Local authority pension to be recalculated to include compulsory overtime following High Court ruling

The High Court found that a former local authority employee was entitled to have nine hours of weekly overtime reckoned towards his pension calculation, after determining that such overtime was compulsory, regular, and integral to his employment duties in the last three years before retirement. The court rejected procedural objections raised by the local authority, ruling that the employee was not barred from bringing court proceedings despite previously referring the matter to the pensions ombudsman, since no formal ombudsman determination had issued. Additionally, the claim was found not to be statute-barred in relation to pension underpayments from the six-year period before the proceedings commenced. The plaintiff's claim for malicious falsehood failed due to lack of evidence of malicious publication or demonstrable loss. The court has directed the parties to make submissions on the calculation of the pension shortfall and appropriate interest.