Pensions Experts Say Government Will Struggle To Justify Changes To Retirement Age

Pensions experts from law firm Irwin Mitchell say the Government and fire service employers of England and Wales may struggle to justify changes they made to the retirement age of firefighters in the face of age discrimination claims. 

This week, at London Central Employment Tribunal the Government is defending the pension scheme in court which sees some younger firefighters having to save over 85% of their wage in order to access the same pension value as their older colleagues. 

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) claim it is a “textbook” example of age discrimination against younger firefighters. 

The Firefighters’ Pension Scheme, introduced in 2015, saw thousands of younger firefighters compulsorily transferred into a scheme where they have to work until 60, pay more and work for longer only to receive a low value pension.

The FBU is arguing that firefighters younger than 45-years-old on 1 April 2012 were unfairly penalised by being forced into the scheme whereas older firefighters were allowed to remain in their original scheme. 

Now five test cases are being heard in court on behalf of the thousands of firefighters affected and the union also claim to have evidence of racial and gender discrimination in the scheme which allegedly affects a disproportionate number of women and ethnic minority firefighters.

The union also claims that the new pension arrangements raise safety concerns as it means firefighters aged 60 have to undertake physically demanding operation tasks. 

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