Social Security Act 1973

52 Certification of employments.

(1) Regulations shall provide—

(a) for the issue by the Occupational Pensions Board to employers of recognition certificates specifying the employments which are to be treated, either generally or in relation to any specified category or description of earners, as recognised pensionable employments; and

(b) for the cancellation, variation or surrender of any certificate, or the issue of an amended certificate on any change of circumstances affecting the treatment of an employment as recognised pensionable employment;

and (subject to the exclusion by section 51 of this Act of earners not of requisite age) any recognition certificate for the time being in force in respect of an employed earner's employment shall be conclusive that the employment is recognised pensionable employment.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, an employment otherwise satisfying the conditions for inclusion in a recognition certificate shall be so included if and so long as the employer so elects and not otherwise; and subject to any prescribed restrictions an election may be so made, and an employment so included, either generally or in relation only to a particular description of earners.

(3) Except in prescribed circumstances, no recognition certificate, and no cancellation, variation or surrender of such a certificate shall have effect from a date earlier than that on which the certificate is issued or the cancellation, variation or surrender is made.

(4) A recognition certificate in respect of any employment—

(a) subject to subsection (5) below, may be issued by the Board notwithstanding that in respect of some earners in that employment the relevant scheme satisfies some, but not all the requirements of sections 53 to 58 of this Act (but only if the Board think it expedient to issue the certificate in particular circumstances where the number of earners in respect of whom the scheme fails to satisfy any particular requirement appears to them to be insignificant in relation to the number of those in respect of whom all the requirements of those sections are satisfied); and

(b) may be withheld or cancelled by the Board (notwithstanding that the scheme is one which they would otherwise treat as proper to be recognised in relation to all earners in that employment) if there appear to the Board to be circumstances relating to the scheme or its management which make it inexpedient that the employment should be or, as the case may be, continue to be recognised pensionable employment by reference to the scheme.

(5) A recognition certificate may be issued by virtue of subsection (4)(a) above only if the Board are satisfied that, in the case of the earners in respect of whom the relevant scheme does not satisfy all the requirements of sections 53 to 58 of this Act and whose employments are to be included in the certificate, written consent to the exercise of the Board's powers under that paragraph has been given by or on behalf of those earners.

(6) Where in relation to an earner's employment there are in force two or more occupational pension schemes, no one of which can by itself be a recognised scheme, the Board may if they think fit (but subject to section 51 of this Act and the foregoing provisions of this section) treat them for recognition purposes as one single scheme.

(7) Regulations shall provide for the determination by the Board of any question whether an employment is to be treated as recognised pensionable employment, or as to the persons in relation to whom, or the period for which, an employment is to be so treated.

(8) Regulations may for the purposes of recognition, and for any other purposes of this Part of this Act, prescribe persons who, in the case of a scheme of any prescribed category, are to be regarded as the trustees or managers of a scheme of that category.

(9) The provisions of Schedule 15 to this Act shall have effect with respect to recognised pensionable employments, recognition certificates and recognised occupational pension schemes.