If you have a dispute with your employer over your pension benefits, the place to take your complaint is to the Pension Funds Adjudicator (PFA), rather than the labour dispute body, the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
This is the conclusion drawn by Paul Pretorius, a senior counsel well-known in legal mediation and arbitration, who was speaking on the issue at the recent Pension Lawyers Association conference following two almost contradictory judgments of the High Court.
In the first case, which involved an Armscor subsidiary, the High Court “adopted a narrow and restrictive approach” in deciding whether an employee and fund member constituted a labour matter or a pensions complaint to the PFA.
The result of the case was that the adjudicator then rejected further complaints where these were sparked by the behaviour of the employer.
Pretorius, however, detailed a further case where the court took a broader view, re-opening the door for complaints to the adjudicator.
In the second case the adjudicator had said that, because of the Armscor case, she could not entertain a complaint from an employee of former agricultural products company Del Monte, whose pension was slashed when the company reduced his standing in the company at retirement, reducing his pension benefits.
The High Court disagreed with the adjudicator and determined she did have the authority.
Pretorius says in terms of the Pension Funds Act you have a complaint about the administration of your fund, its investments or the interpretation and application of its rules if you allege:
* Any decision is taken by the fund or any person that exceeds the powers of the fund or when there is an improper use of the powers;
* You have sustained or may sustain prejudice as a result of maladministration of your fund;
* A dispute on fact or law; and/or
* Your employer has not fulfilled its duties to your fund.