Milroy Case: now MoD takes appeal to a higher court
In August 2024 an Employment Tribunal ruled that Major Charles Milroy was unfairly treated as a part-time reservist. Under the Part Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (PTWR), the Tribunal ruled that Major Milroy had been denied access to AFPS 75 and that calculation of his daily rate of pay was less favourable than for a comparable full-time worker.
The MoD appealed this decision in September 2024 and in January of this year (2026)The Employment Appeal Tribunal refused the MoD’s appeal on all the grounds raised.
This decision appears to indicate that non-mobilised reserve service prior to 2015 should have been pensionable under AFPS 75 and 05 subject to the 2 year qualifying period. Also, that when calculating the reserve rate of pay, an annual divisor of 365.25, rather than a smaller amount that took account of non-working days, was wrong.
Unhappy with this refusal to appeal, the MoD has now appealed to a higher court, the Court of Session for permission to challenge the initial decision. This, despite a debate on 24 February when the Minister accepted the case “raises important questions not only in law, but in how we recognise and support those who serve and have served our country, including through reservist service.”
The Court of Session may or may not agree to consider the case and its decision could take weeks or months to be determined. Meanwhile, if you think you may be impacted by the original judgement, you may find it helpful to visit the Forces Pension Society website (forcespensionsociety.org) for more detailed information.
Maj Gen Neil Marshall, CEO of the Forces Pension Society said:
“This is an unsettling time for all those impacted, including many of those among our 65,000 Members. No-one wants to feel they have been unfairly treated.
“We hope the Court of Session makes an early decision about whether it is prepared to consider an appeal. Meantime the Society will monitor progress closely and keep our Members informed.”
FPS is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation providing pension guidance to its growing membership base of more than 65,000 serving personnel and veterans. The Society champions pensions on behalf of the whole military community and, this year, celebrates its 80th anniversary. For more information about our work, visit forcespensionsociety.org