Right to time off for pension scheme trustees
86.—(1) The employer in relation to a relevant occupational pension scheme shall permit an employee of his who is a trustee of the scheme to take time off during the employee’s working hours for the purpose of—
(a)performing any of his duties as such a trustee, or 88
(b)undergoing training relevant to the performance of those duties.
(2) The amount of time off which an employee is to be permitted to take under this Article and the purposes for which, the occasions on which and any conditions subject to which time off may be so taken are those that are reasonable in all the circumstances having regard, in particular, to—
(a)how much time off is required for the performance of the duties of a trustee of the scheme and the undergoing of relevant training, and how much time off is required for performing the particular duty or for undergoing the particular training, and
(b)the circumstances of the employer’s business and the effect of the employee’s absence on the running of that business.
(3) In this Article—
(a)“relevant occupational pension scheme” means an occupational pension scheme (as defined in section 1 of the [1993 c. 49.] Pension Schemes (Northern Ireland) Act 1993) established under a trust, and
(b)references to the employer, in relation to such a scheme, are to an employer of persons in the description or category of employment to which the scheme relates.
(4) For the purposes of this Article the working hours of an employee shall be taken to be any time when, in accordance with his contract of employment, the employee is required to be at work.