This case involved a claim that the complainant had been denied access to the Company Pension Scheme (the Scheme). Under the terms of the Scheme, only individuals in a permanent position between the age of twenty and fifty could access it. As the complainant was employed on a contract of indefinite duration he could not access the Scheme. He claimed that he had been treated less favourably than a permanent employee on this basis.

The respondent alleged that, as per the terms of the Scheme, and the fact it was set up under a Statutory Instrument, the complainant could not, as a matter of law, be admitted to the Scheme. The respondent claimed that access to a PRSA Scheme had been available to the complainant as an alternative. However, the court believed the complainant's contention that he was not advised of same.

The Court agreed that the complainant, as a fixed term worker, was treated less favourably than a permanent worker of comparable age. The Court held that withholding membership of the Scheme from fixed-term workers and the absence of the company making comparable alternative pension arrangements runs contrary to Irish and European Law. Accordingly, the Court requested that the respondent make an application to the Scheme to admit the complainant to membership retrospectively to the first day of his employment in 2005.
http://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2017/July/LCR21520.html