Pension eligibility after removal from service upheld where final appellate order preserved terminal benefits and settlement was harmonised

The bipartite settlement, as amended, and the pension regulations had to be read together so that removal from service with preserved terminal benefits did not, by itself, defeat pension eligibility. Regulation 22(1) on forfeiture of past service applied to dismissal, removal or termination, but the governing scheme, construed in light of the earlier binding interpretation, allowed superannuation benefits where the employee remained otherwise eligible. The unchallenged appellate order substituting dismissal with removal from service and expressly retaining terminal benefits had attained finality, and the employee was therefore entitled to pensionary benefits under that final order and the applicable rules.

---

---

Issues: Whether an employee removed from service after being found guilty of gross misconduct was entitled to pensionary and other superannuation benefits under the applicable bipartite settlement and pension regulations, and whether the appellate order granting terminal benefits had attained finality.

Analysis: The applicable bipartite settlement, as amended, permitted removal from service with superannuation benefits that would otherwise be due under the governing rules or regulations. Regulation 22(1) of the pension regulations provided for forfeiture of past service on dismissal, removal or termination. The provisions were read together and harmonised by applying the earlier binding decision on the interplay between the settlement and the regulations. On that construction, an employee otherwise eligible for pension could not be denied superannuation benefits merely because the punishment was removal from service with terminal benefits. The appellate authority's order substituting dismissal with removal from service and expressly preserving terminal benefits was not challenged and had attained finality.

Conclusion: The employee was entitled to pensionary benefits in terms of the final appellate order and the governing settlement and regulations.

---