Options available to members
Early retirement in the interests of efficiency (IOE)
A member may be retired early in the IOE of the service. Unlike redundancy, this is where a member is no longer capable of meeting the requirements of their role because of:
- new or expanded duties
- a reduced ability to do their job, but not enough to qualify for ill-health retirement
In either case, their pension benefits may be paid immediately if the member has:
- at least 2 years qualifying membership
- 2 years continuity of employment
- reached their minimum pension age
- not unreasonably refused to look for other work and accept a suitable job offer
Redundancy options for eligible members
Members who are made redundant for reasons other than IOE and meet the qualifying criteria can choose to:
- take their redundancy payment and have their pension benefits paid unreduced at normal pension age
- take their redundancy payment and take their pension benefits early with a reduction (early retirement)
- take their pension benefits early without a reduction using the redundancy payment to meet the capitalised cost
- take the redundancy payment and leave their pension benefits to be claimed later
Members with benefits in more than one scheme
Members who have both 1995 Section and 2015 Scheme benefits may claim the 1995 Section benefits due to either redundancy or IOE from age 50 if they had membership prior to 5 April 2006.
Members with both 2008 Section and 2015 Scheme benefits may claim their pension early due to redundancy or IOE from both the 2015 Scheme and those from earlier membership. However, they must have reached the minimum pension age of 55.
In general:
- members can select redundancy pension benefits for the 1995/2008 Section and defer their 2015 Scheme. The member can make a claim for their 2015 Scheme pension later.
- members can select redundancy pension benefits for the 1995/2008 Section and chose to take Early Retirement pension from the 2015 Scheme. They will keep any residue severance payment.
- members can make a separate selection providing they do not claim their 2015 Scheme on redundancy. If they do claim 2015 Scheme redundancy pension benefits, then both 1995/2008 and 2015 Scheme must be paid as redundancy. The severance payment is set against legacy benefits first before any residue is applied to the 2015 Scheme.
If a member is then re-employed, they will be able to build up further pension benefits in the 2015 Scheme.
Where a member has reached their NPA in the 1995 or 2008 Section, this element of their pension benefits is payable without reduction for early payment and must therefore be excluded for the purposes of calculating the capitalised cost and any additional contribution option.
If a member is getting some or all their pension benefits through flexible retirement, this may affect the redundancy payment from the employer depending on terms and conditions of employment.
Where there is a gap between the 1995/2008 Scheme benefits and the 2015 Scheme benefits of more than five years, only the later period can be claimed as redundancy benefits.
Members who increase their pension benefits
Members who are buying added years or additional pension by instalments will not be able to get their payments back if they're forced to leave NHS employment early.
Members will be credited with the extra benefits that they have already paid for but if they choose to claim their pension, the benefits they get from the additional contributions will be reduced. This is because benefits are being paid before the expected retirement date.
The reduction for early payment also applies to those members who purchased added years or additional pension by a single lump sum.
Who these options do not apply to
These provisions do not apply to:
- staff employed in NHS Wales
- hospital doctors and dentists
- very senior managers who are not subject to Agenda for Change or equivalent terms and conditions
Forms you may need
Complete the Concurrent pensionable employment (AW343) (PDF: 206KB) if both of the following apply to the member:
- leaving on grounds of compulsory redundancy
- has concurrent pensionable employment, including Practitioner membership, in the NHS