NHS pension part time worker

[TulipVictory]

I work part time and have done for a good few years now. I'm wondering what this means for my pension. I've read this paragraph on the NHS pension scheme but I can't seem to get my head around what it actually means:

Members working part time
x
For calculating benefits, membership means the actual amount of membership you have built up in this Scheme. For example someone who has worked part time, 50% of standard full time hours, for 20 years will have 10 years’ membership counting towards their benefit calculations. The other main factor in calculating benefits, final years’ pensionable pay, or reckonable pay, is based on the full time equivalent salary for that job. In the example given the 50% part time worker may have earned £12,500 a year but for the purpose of calculating benefits the 100% full time rate of £25,000 is used.

This doesn't mean I get paid for less time when I retire does it ? 🤔

As a defined benefit scheme you'll be paid your pension between your retirement and death. What the calculation means is that as a part time worker you accrue benefits more slowly than if you were full time. What it's also saying though is when you retire your pension will be calculated as on what your full time salary would be if you work full time.

Worked example:

0.5 FTE with a full time equivalent salary of £25,000 and pension accrual is 50ths
Works for 20 years
PT employee gets 10/50ths of £25,000 per annum
FT employee gets 20/50ths of £25,000 per annum
So as a part time worker you will benefit from it being based on a FTE worker but by working part time you accrue more slowly as have to work two years to get an extra 50th.

I've got 4 degrees, but I'm still confused 😄🤣.

If I worked 0.6FTE for the NHS for my whole life, would I get 0.6 of the NHS pension of a full time colleague on the same pay band and point?

@BreakingUpWithMyPhone

I've got 4 degrees, but I'm still confused 😄🤣.

If I worked 0.6FTE for the NHS for my whole life, would I get 0.6 of the NHS pension of a full time colleague on the same pay band and point?

Yes

You should be able to see you pension forecast on Total Rewards on your ESR.
If you can’t, then contact your HR and payroll depts as an annual pension forecast is now law. They should give an address to write to get a forecast, and also put the right information in so you can see your Total Rewards package.

It’s not dodgy. It just means they use the full time salary to work out your pension.

So it it takes a full timer a year to accrue x amount and you work 50% of the week, you will have to work two years to get the same amount.

It always confuses me too.

So if youve worked there for five years on half the full time hours, they will say you’ve worked there 2.5 years on full time salary.

Same thing as far as I can see. Just weird.

@BreakingUpWithMyPhone you have to do twice the length of service at 50% to get paid the same retirement benefits as a full time employee. You just get the benefit of the calculation being done on final full time salary.

It's the same thing, surely?

I would imagine it is phrased like that to allow for variations in pt working hours throughout the career. So you accumulate service based on the time you actually work (ie 50% is 6 months' per calendar year) then applied to the full time final salary

Thanks everyone 😄, I understand now.

Yes, I've varied my working hours so far, and will probably do it again, so it does make sense.

@clarrylove sorry I was replying to this. Even working a full career it depends on years served v. how many years required for full pension. A 50% employee would not automatically get a full pension for working their whole career