Contract/staff handbook/life assurance

[Chergar]

I need some advice, my father died earlier this year while on a business trip with work.
I have looked out a lot of paperwork and sent off for his pension benefits, however I have been told that the company did not provide life assurance. I contacted the employer and they said that they didn’t offer life assurance but looking at the paperwork my dad received with his offer of employment, his contract states “the company operates a contributory pension scheme. Details of the scheme and an application form are available from the company secretary”
the offer letter made no mention of pension entitlement and in the same email he received the staff handbook and under pensions it says “the company operates an auto enrolment pension scheme with free life assurance for all staff. All staff are eligible to join the scheme. Details of the scheme are available from the Finance Director”. The handbook is dated August 2016 and the email with offer letter, contract and handbook was sent on 6 September 2017.

when I queried the life assurance aspect with the company CEO they said that “ no one joining the company since January 2013 has automatically been given death in service benefit following a change in group policy.....”

my father had always had life cover with his previous employments and he thought he had it here, he would never take a job that did not provide that benefit.

Do we have any legal redress here and is it worth pursuing.

thank you for any advice

[ULA]

I am so sorry to hear about your father. I just need to ask a couple of questions:

1. When did your father start working at the company I presume around the time of Sept 2017 when he received his offer details and handbook?
2. Is it a large company i.e. employing more than 250 staff?

I am not concerned there was no mention of the pension scheme in the offer letter as often this just provides the basics of the employment terms e.g. salary, hours, start date. However, the contract states a “contributory pension scheme”, which if the company has more than 250 staff and your father started in 2017 is “dated” terminology as the company would have been obliged to comply with auto-enrolment. Did the contract state anything about life assurance in addition to the pension?

It seems that the handbook dated August 2016 reflects the auto-enrolment requirement in the terminology used and clearly states free life assurance as part of the policy the company auto enrols staff into.

I guess having no policy details you are not aware of the potential benefit, however traditionally policies of this nature, operated via a company scheme, are between 2x and 4x basic salary.

I have a feeling from what you have said about the response from the CEO with the date he has given and if they are a large company, then they would have had to implement auto-enrolment between Oct 2012 and Feb 2014. It might have been at this time they may have changed the pension provider or type of policy which removed the life assurance benefit for presumably new staff joining. In which case they should have changed all documentation accordingly, and certainly not included it in a staff handbook produced in Aug 2016.

If it is not a term in the employment contract, then the argument would be about how enforceable the contents of the staff handbook are and whether or not its contents are deemed to be contractual or non-contractual. In most cases companies clearly state it is the latter.

I would suggest given the misleading content in the handbook it would be worth writing formally to the company, pointing out these anomalies. In addition, state that your father had always had life cover with his previous employments and you believe that given the contents of the staff handbook, he genuinely thought that he was being provided with this benefit when he took up employment with the company. It may be worth adding in the fact that you understand the traditional scale of benefit provided and that you will be seeking similar in terms of life assurance for the death in service of your father.

Hope that helps.

[Chergar]

Thank you so much for your reply.

dad started in October 2017, I am not sure how to define the size of the company, my dad worked in a susiduary (50 staff) that was part of a larger group (parent company, all in 900 staff).

the contract doesnt mention life assurance just that it operates a contribution scheme. The end of the contract says “this contract should be read in conjunction with the employee handbook as the contained (holidays, sickness administration, discipline and grievance procedure, email and internet policy, health and safety and equal opportunities) are an integral part of this, your contract with XXXXXX

The handbook says “read this handbook carefully. Some of the subjects covered are most important, as they are contractual and form part of your terms of employment. If there is conflict between the terms of this handbook and your written statement of terms and conditions of employment, then that statement prevails”

there is no guidance or differentiation in the handbook on what items are contractual and which are not.

[ULA]

Thanks for coming back to me. If the larger group was responsible for the PAYE of the subsidiary company your father worked for then auto-enrolment would have needed to be implemented in the timescales I gave at post #2 so my hunch on the Jan 2013 date mentioned by the CEO is still a valid one, albeit just a hunch.

So it is just the handbook of Aug 2016 that mentions the free life assurance for all staff alongside the pension scheme? It is very helpful that the contract mentions the importance of the handbook and that some of its contents are contractual, however not helpful in that it does not specify which are and which are not. It does also state that if there is a conflict then the contract overrides and this document is mute on the issue of life assurance.

I would still think it worth sending a letter, since the CEO has declared that the company had not offered life assurance since Jan 2013, why had this not been removed from a staff handbook with an issue date of over 3 years later, let alone that the same handbook was provided to your father over 4 years later with incorrect information about a benefit to staff being available. Just as important is the fact that the provision of this benefit was stated in a staff handbook deemed in the contract as an "integral part of this your contract..."

[Chergar]

The CEO has just come back to me saying that the company did offer life assurance but this was not automatic, you had to enquire about it and apply. They also said that my dad didn’t make an enquiry so no cover was put in place

This information is not stated in any of the three offer documents, my dad thought he had cover, therefore no need to enquire.

I have decided to contact a solicitor to get proper advice (no offence!) and to see if we have a valid claim against the company.

thank you so much for your help/advice.

[ULA]

No offence taken.

Just my final thought your father would have been automatically enrolled into the pension scheme and then if he decided that he did not want to be in the scheme he would have had to opt out. The wording from your post #1 given in the handbook was "... t

he company operates an auto enrolment pension scheme with free life assurance for all staff ..." So by definition, in my opinion, as part of the auto enrolment process you are automatically given free life assurance cover and your father would have only given up that benefit if he decided to opt out of auto enrolment.

I wish you luck and it would be great to get any feedback as to what the solictor thinks and any conclusion to the matter so that other people who may have to deal with a similar situation, who may view this thread for help, can see what the outcome was and may be able to use this thread for support.