Pension schemes offered by the University and how to obtain further details
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With effect from1 January 2011 the University will no longer operate a contractual retirement age. From this date an employee will be able to choose when to “retire”.
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As the University will no longer be determining when an employee “retires” the process of retirement will therefore be voluntary.
A retirement does not require an employee to end their paid employment with the University. Dependent on the options available to the employee through the University’s occupational pension schemes (and/or the state pension scheme), they may be able to access their accrued retirement benefits, in whole or in part, and remain in some form of University employment.
Retirement is therefore a process by which an employee seeks to access their pension benefits. In doing so, there may also be a variation to their terms of, or continuation in, employment with the University.
As retirement as a process is no longer fixed to a given date there will need to be an ongoing discussion between staff and managers about their future plans with regard to working / retirement options in order to effectively plan for any change that may occur.
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Retirement as an option applies only to staff who have a contract of employment and are paid on PAYE terms via the University payroll, be that by salary, by claim or a combination of both. Self employed staff are not covered by this policy.
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The University offers access to three occupational pension schemes and full membership guides for each are available from their respective web sites.
Members of each scheme contribute a percentage of gross salary into the scheme which is added to by an employer contribution. Pension benefits are based on accrued services (in years and days) and a calculation of “final salary” (see scheme guides/web pages for more details).
Each scheme has differing terms as to the age at which, and on what conditions, benefits can be accessed. Members are advised to review the information on the pension scheme web sites before making a decision on whether to access their pension benefits in part or in full.
Details of the three occupational pension schemes, and the state pension scheme, are in listed in Appendix 1
2.
RETIREMENT OPTIONS
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Full Retirement
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This is what many would see as the
traditional meaning of retirement and involves the employee
resigning fully from their employed work at the same time as
accessing their pension benefits.
The age at which staff can access their occupational pension benefits will depend on the terms of the scheme, for state benefits the age at which benefits can be taken will depend on date of birth and gender. More information is available from the schemes via their links in appendix 1.
Retirement and further employment
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Accessing all the accrued pension benefits
does not preclude a member of staff continuing to be employed
with the University, or with another employer. However it is
likely that if a member of staff wishes to access their full
pension benefits they would have to “resign” and therefore the
terms of any re-engagement would have to be agreed in advance.
Staff should also note that the value of any earnings received after taking full retirement benefits may impact of the value of the annual pension received. Annual pension and salary earnings maybe liable to tax and national insurance payments. More details are available from the HR department and the relevant scheme web pages.
Flexible/Phased Retirement
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The University’s three occupational
schemes each offer “flexible” or “phased” retirement options.
Terms vary between each scheme but the principles allow a staff
member to access part of the accrued benefits as well as
continuing in work.
This option is designed to allow staff a period of transition between full employment and full retirement. Each scheme requires the staff member to take a step down in either working hours or salary grade as part of the agreement for flexible / phased retirement.
Please note HR can provide information and guidance on scheme terms but are prevented, by the Financial Services Act, from providing financial advice (see Pension Scheme Guidance and Financial Advice).
Employer discretions for Retirement and
further employment/ Flexible/Phased retirement
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Applications for retirement and further
employment with the University, or flexible/phased retirement,
require the agreement of the employer. Applications for either
will not be unreasonably refused but must be in the interests of
both the University and the member of staff and cannot be agreed
to where it can be shown that they would have a disruptive
impact on service provision or other staff.
3.
THE RETIREMENT PROCESS
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Although the University no longer applies a contractual retirement age the Human Resources Department will continue to provide advice and guidance to staff considering their retirement options.
The University will also continue to offer staff access to a pre-retirement planning training event (for the staff member and spouse or partner). Staff employed by the University at the age of 58 will be contacted to advise them of this option. Staff who have not yet reached 58 but wish to attend the course can apply to do so but the event is limited to one attendance per staff member.
Managers will continue to receive annual data on the age demographic of their staff and it will be an acceptable part of the annual appraisal process for a manager to ask a staff member as to their future intention with regard to retirement to assist with future workforce planning.
Staff wishing to apply for retirement, in any form, can get information on the process and options from the relevant scheme web sites (see appendix 1).
Applications for full retirement are in effect resignations. Staff members wishing to take full retirement are encouraged to discuss this at the earliest opportunity with their line manager so that they can start to plan for any change to staffing requirements.
Applications for flexible or phased retirements are requests for variations to terms and conditions and are treated as a flexible working request. Staff are encourage to discuss the possibility of flexible or phased retirement with their manager before making a formal request in writing which will then be reviewed and discussed before a decision is made. Applications will not be unreasonably refused but must be in the interests of both the University and the member of staff and cannot be agreed to where it can be shown that they would have a disruptive impact on service provision or other staff.
Advice and guidance on each process will be available from the Human Resources department.
Pension schemes offered by the University and how to obtain further details
Local Government Pension scheme (LGPS) – offered to all non academic staff with contracts in excess of 3 months. Staff eligible to be members of the scheme are automatically joined unless they opt out in writing. Non members can elect to join at anytime but past service can only be awarded in exceptional circumstances. Employee contribution rates are variable dependant on salary.
Further details are available from the LGPS web site at http://www.lgps.org.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=1
Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS) – offered to all academic staff including those employed on sessional terms (no contract period criteria apply). Staff eligible to be members of the scheme are automatically joined unless they opt out in writing on the TPS opt out form. NOTE staff who are members of the scheme with another employer are required to join the scheme unless they are already contributing the equivalent of a full time salary i.e. members cannot elect to be members for salaried earnings and not on sessional earnings.
Non members can elect to join at anytime but past service can only be awarded in exceptional circumstances. Employee contribution rates are variable dependant on salary.
Further details are available from the TPS web site at: http://www.teacherspensions.co.uk/index.htm
Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) – this is only available to staff who were members of the USS immediately prior to joining the University. More information should be sought from the Human Resources department or the USS web site at http://www.uss.co.uk/Pages/default.aspx.
State pension scheme
State pension is paid by the government and is based on national insurance contributions throughout the working life of the member of staff. Details are available from the web link below.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensionsandretirementplanning/StatePension/index.htm
SMT 16 November
2010
JNCC 19 November 2010
