S.L. 318.20 Art. 4Provisions in contracts, agreements, other rules or any other law.

(1) Any provisions contrary to the principle of equal treatment in any law, individual or collective contracts or agreements, internal rules of undertakings or rules governing any registered organisation in terms of applicable law, shall be considered null and void.

(2) The provisions referred to in subregulation (1) shall include such provisions:

(a) determining the persons who may participate in a scheme;

(b) fixing the compulsory or optional nature of participation in a scheme;

(c) laying down different rules as regards the age of entry into the scheme or the minimum period of employment or membership of the scheme required to obtain the benefits thereof;

(d) laying down different rules, except as provided for in paragraphs (h) and (j), for the reimbursement of contributions when a worker leaves a scheme without having fulfilled the conditions guaranteeing a deferred right to long-term benefits;

(e) setting different conditions for the granting of benefits or restricting such benefits to workers of one or other of the sexes;

(f) fixing different retirement ages;

(g) suspending the retention or acquisition of rights during periods of maternity leave or leave for family reasons, which are granted by law or agreement, and are paid by the employer;

(h) setting different levels of benefit, except in so far as may be necessary to take account of actuarial calculation factors which differ according to sex in the case of defined-contribution schemes: Provided that in the case of funded defined-benefit schemes, certain elements including:

(i) the conversion into a capital sum of part of a periodic pension;

(ii) the transfer of pension rights; may be unequal where the inequality of the amounts results from the effects of the use of actuarial factors differing according to sex, at the time when the scheme’s funding is implemented;

(i) setting different levels for workers’ contributions;

(j) setting different levels for employers’ contributions, except:

(i) in the case of defined-contribution schemes if the aim is to equalize the amount of the final benefits or to make them more nearly equal for both sexes;

(ii) in the case of funded defined-benefit schemes where the employer’s contributions are intended to ensure the adequacy of the funds necessary to cover the cost of the benefits defined;

(k) laying down different standards or standards applicable only to workers of a specified sex, except as provided for in paragraphs (h) and (j), as regards the guarantee or retention of entitlement to deferred benefits when a worker leaves a scheme.

(3) For the purpose of these regulations, where the granting of benefits is left to the discretion of the scheme’s management bodies, the latter must comply with the principle of equal treatment.