bAV: BAG decides.no say, only employer decides on insurer

Published on 21.09.2006

*by Johannes Fiala, Lawyer(Munich), M.B.A. (Univ.Wales), M.M.(Univ.), Certified Financial and Investment Advisor (A.F.A.), EC Expert(C.I.F.E.),Banker (www.fiala.de)
Company pension schemes: Life insurance policies are often used in company pension schemes. One way of implementing this is through salary conversion for contribution to a direct insurance policy. The issue in this case was whether the employee could require the employer to invest the money with a particular insurer.
BAG decision: The Federal Labour Court (BAG) decided (Ref. 3 AZR 502/04) that the employee has no right to a say at all in this case. In the context of a decision on costs, the court expressed here how it would have decided on the matter that had been ?declared settled? The employee has no claim in the matter, i.e. he has lost.
Employer liability: The decision is consistent because, after all, in case of doubt, the employer bears the liability in this area, as the judgements on the risks and liability when using, for example, zillmerised tariffs show.
Consequence for bAV training: The Tutor Company (www.tutor.de) commented this with the words: The consequence for the mediator can logically only be: ‘Only the amateur goes to the employee. For the professional, the employer is the right contact. Such an activity is not called product mediation but management consultancy, for which there are now also retraining courses to become a ‘certified management consultant for occupational pension schemes’.
Status: 04.11.2005