Seafarers: Territorial Jurisdiction Test

Pensions automatic enrolment

The Administrative Court has recently had to grapple with the issue of whether seafarers, who work on vessels which spend all or most of their time outside the UK, qualify for automatic enrolment into a UK-based pension scheme. In the process, the Court laid down a clear test for seafarers wishing to establish territorial jurisdiction for legal claims in the UK.

The Pensions Regulator is responsible for enforcing the obligations of British employers to automatically enrol their eligible employees. The Regulator concluded that seafarers employed by a Bermuda-incorporated company were eligible for auto-enrolment in the UK, and in line with its powers, issued a compliance notice on the company for failing to auto-enrol them. The company then sought judicial review of this.