You could be losing out on thousands of rands in retirement benefits if your retirement fund, like many in South Africa, is discriminating against you in one way or another.
Shock findings in Sanlam's latest survey of 200 retirement funds show that about one fund in 10 still discriminates against members on the basis of race, gender, marital status or religion.
Though they do conform to their own rules, the rules themselves are flawed, says Chris Bvsenberg, a senior consultant at Sanlam Employee Benefits. This is because they have not kept pace with post-apartheid changes in legislation.
The survey found that:
* Nine percent of funds offered unequal benefits for men and women;
* One quarter had different retirement ages for the two sexes or for senior management and other employees;
* Eleven percent of funds tested individuals for HIV before admitting them as members. Nine percent of these excluded individuals from membership if they tested positive for the virus; and
* Sixty-two percent of funds did not offer members free choices when it came to choosing between the different funds offered by the company.
Bvsenberg says many of the funds are falling foul of the Bill of Rights, the Labour Relations Act, the Employment Equity Bill and the Pension Funds Adjudicator's decisions. Transgressions by funds which are very likely to amount to an unfair labour practice are:
* Different benefits for men and women based on the statistic that women live on average five years longer than men. Overseas this has been ruled discriminatory because a pension is regarded as an extension of your salary. Since men and women are paid equal salaries, this should extend to retirement benefits;
* Offering widow's pensions only instead of offering spouse's pensions. Thirteen percent of defined benefit funds and 10 percent of defined contribution funds discriminated between men and women in this way;
* Excluding same sex partners and common law partners from receiving a spouse's pension; and
* Not offering retirement benefits to part-time employees.
Trustees should not rest on their laurels and should re-examine their retirement fund rules, benefits, practices, procedures and decisions to ensure there are no unfair labour practices or discrimination, Bvsenberg says.
As a fund member, you can and should do something about it.
"Many people typically only show a casual interest in their retirement fund and do not fully exercise their rights and choices within their fund," he says.
Your retirement nest egg represents a major portion of your wealth and you should be playing an active role to ensure its protection. Remember what may be fair when applied to a group may not be fair when viewed within the context of a particular individual.
New legislation, which comes into effect on December 15, will give you greater powers. From then, at least half the board of trustees of retirement funds must be elected by members.
Other findings revealed in the survey were:
* One in 10 defined benefit retirement funds still does not provide for any increases in pensions;
* More than one quarter of employers still do not subsidise pensioners' medical aid contributions;
* One quarter of defined benefit retirement funds surveyed said they were considering converting to a defined contribution fund and 42 percent said they offered new members a defined contribution option, where you carry the investment risk; and
* Funds have improved withdrawal benefits to incorporate market related returns, but almost a third of funds still exclude your employers' net contributions at withdrawal. Of the rest, about 60 percent phase the employer's net contributions in after about five years.