Is mammy entitled to a pension?

Emmser

My mother worked with Ulster bank for exactly six years. Starting July 1975 and leaving in July 1981. She was 25 years of age when leaving. At that time women were not allowed pay into a pension fund. She didn't receive any marriage gratuity as she joined too late. She is now 60 years of age in April. Is she entitled to a pension from Ulster bank and who should she contact? The reason she's a asking is because she heard from a colleague that legislation changed 4/5 years ago (Ulster bank is a subsidiary of an English owned bank, Nat west now Royal bank of Scotland) where they now include those years because of equality.

NUTLEY BOY

I would imagine that the starting point for this would be the terms and conditions of employment that existed at the relevant time as well as the terms of the pension scheme.

The fact that a person did not pay in to a pension scheme does not debar them if it was on a non-contributory basis - something that did exist in the 1970s.

At the very best I would only expect some kind of small pro-rata pension for the six years of service. Realistically, I would be very surprised if anything was due at all.

Start at the beginning. Write to Ulster Bank. Give them as much detail as you have including personnel number and ask what pension entitlements exist for her.

In summary, I think that this is a long shot but I would love to be wrong - If you do not ask you cannot know for sure.