All NHS employers need to act now to make sure staff don’t miss out on pension contributions.
On 1 April 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) made a retrospective change to the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations 2015. The changes make it clear that any additional hours worked up to whole time equivalent (WTE) are automatically pensionable for part-time NHS staff at their standard rate of pay.
All employers must write to affected employees before 1 October 2025 with information about what this means for them.
The NHSBSA will publish updated guidance to help NHS Employers understand the changes in the coming weeks, and more information can be found on the pay and contributions web page. We'll also soon be adding suggested letter templates for you to use to the NHS Pensions Employer Toolkit.
We'll also write to affected NHS Pension Scheme members to tell them about the changes.
Most employers continue to treat additional hours for part-time NHS staff as pensionable pay. In this case, the Scheme member should have paid the right amount in contributions, and their additional hours will be reflected in their final pension.