Contract Changes
Contract Changes
If you change your hours, move part time, start a new contract or move jobs find out how this will affect your pension.
Moving from Full time to Part time
Your pension is based on your pay so if you move part time, your pay will reduce and so too will the amount of pension you build up from that point onwards. Everything up to that point will be unchanged.
For example if you earned £2000 per month from April to July and then went to £1000 per month from August. For that year you would have £2000*4 + £1000 *8 = £16000 pensionable pay accrued giving a pension (at 1/49th) of £326.53 for that financial year.
Impact on Final Salary Pension (pension built up before 1 April 2015)
In most cases, moving from full time to part time won't affect the final salary part. This is because we use the Full Time Equivalent pay for the final salary calculation, i.e. your basic pay is proportioned up to the same as a full time member. If you have been receiving allowances on top of your basic pay and these have reduced as a consequence of you going part time then this will affect the Full Time Equivalent pay and may result in a decrease in the final salary benefits.
Starting a New Contract but Continuing Another One
You will now have what is known as concurrent employments - where more than one contract is running and being paid at the same time. A new pension account will be opened for your new contract and will run along side your existing one. The new account is treated separately and will have a new start date.
Leaving One Contract and Starting Another Straight Away
How this affects your pension depends on how your employer treats the contract. If you have changed your job then generally you will keep the same payroll number and the same contract number for pension purposes. There will be no effect on your pension account as you will just continue to pay in as before. If you have final salary benefits and your hourly rate has reduced then your final salary benefits may be affected by the change.
If your employer has finished off one contract and started up a separate one either under the same payroll number or under a different one then your first pension account will be closed and a new one opened up. These will automatically be joined together after 12 months unless you opt to keep them separate. Options will be sent out to you by the pension team if this is the case.
Moving from Fixed Hours to a Casual Contract
If your employment changes from fixed hours to casual or your start employment on a casual basis, you will only pay contributions when you work.
Active membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) is linked to pensionable employment and the payment of contributions. If you have not paid any contributions for a significant period, your pension record may be closed.
If this is the case, you will receive communications from us. Please note this does not affect your employment. If you take on more casual hours at a later date, your employer will notify use and your pension position will be reviewed at that time.
Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) (TUPE)
If your new employer is not a participating employer within the NESPF, you will no longer be able to contribute to the LGPS. Instead, you new employer will be required to offer access to a pension scheme that provides benefits that are comparable to the LGPS to ensure you are not disadvantaged by the transfer.
If this applies to you, your employer will be in touch to let you know the arrangements and your options.
