All occupational pension schemes outside the public sector are nowrequired by law to provide for preservation of benefits. One day, your occupational pension benefits will be top of your list of priorities. A little thought now can save a lot of confusion then, writes Una McCaffrey.

Amid all the celebrations that surround getting a new job, one small but important detail that is often neglected is how pension benefits will survive the transition to the new employer.

It is not surprising that this should be the case since, for many workers, particularly those on the younger side of middle age, occupational pension benefits are often little more than a distraction.

However, the day will inevitably come when retirement benefits move from the bottom to the top of the list of priorities.

It will be then, when your youngest daughter announces that she needs funding for her African research or your son "simply must" be supported during that unpaid internship in Geneva, that the issue of the extra retirement cash will suddenly become exciting.

Just what happened to that pension scheme in which you participated for five years when you were in your early 30s? Did you ever get the benefits attached to it and, if not, why not?

To avoid confusion when that day arrives, it is always better to establish what will happen to your pension before you move jobs. Happily, today's pensions legislation has been drafted specifically to preserve retirement benefits in such a scenario. In theory at least, the idea of being trapped in a "job for life" because you could not afford to lose your pension has been consigned to the past.

The rules that govern this area are outlined in the Pensions Act 1990 and the Pensions (Amendment) Act 2002. In simple terms, these provisions ensure that any benefits earned by a member of a pension scheme will follow one of a number of specific paths:

they can be preserved in the scheme being left;

they can be transferred to a new employer's scheme or an unfunded (public sector) scheme;

they can be transferred to a policy or contract with an insurance company;

they can go into a personal retirement savings account (subject to these becoming available next year).

So far so good. The difficult part comes next, however, with the directions taken by the routes often seeming less than transparent, despite the best efforts of the draftsmen.

From a layman's perspective, the first tool to carry when deciphering the issues involved is a sense of exactly what is at play in terms of benefit.

To draw large brush strokes, occupational schemes involve employers undertaking to provide cash benefits to members or their dependants upon retirement or death, with the pension maturing when the person reaches "normal pensionable age".

Particular rules enter the frame when a worker leaves the scheme in question before normal pensionable age, acting, under certain conditions, to preserve the benefits built up while at work.

The "preserved benefit" in question will amount to a proportion of the benefit to which the member would have been entitled if they had remained in their job until normal pensionable age.

The good news is that all occupational pension schemes outside the public sector are now required by law to provide for preservation of benefits. The bad news is that only workers who satisfy certain conditions will be eligible to draw on the entitlement they have built up. The most fundamental of these is that they must have completed at least two years of service.

Once that hurdle has been passed, it is a matter of this service having been with a company whose scheme comes under the Pensions Acts and undertakes to preserve benefits.

Next comes the termination of employment, or the conditions under which an employee leaves a job. The key point to bear in mind here is that a temporary absence from a job will not be taken as a termination and will thus not give rise to the preservation of benefit.

It is at this stage that the benefits being preserved can be calculated (see second story), and the employee can begin to put a figure on what they might be due.

In order to do this definitively, they will need to seek information on the rules that govern their scheme. They should be aware that all schemes covered by the Pensions Act must make relevant information available to employees upon request, regardless of whether they are thinking of leaving their job or not.

This information, including details such as trustee names or calculation methods used, must be provided within two months of an employee terminating their contract or, if they remain in employment, as soon as is practicable.