Pension - Days out?

[MissAtomicBomb1]

I currently work part time on a 0.4 contract though I actually work lots of extra hours.
I've just checked my pension statement and I've noticed that I have various 'days out' listed each month since March. Varies from 1-19 days!
I had none listed last year and haven't been on strike.
Does anyone else have similar or know why this might be? Our school business manager isn't great and usually ignores or fobs off such queries so ideally I'd like a bit of an idea what they are before asking her!

Mine were completely wrong (due to a known error in their system for the contract I was on) and it's taken me 6 months to sort out. Even then, I've now been credited for the right number of days but they credited actual days out and left as Days Out days I'd actually worked - absolutely useless. It's really TP you need to speak to, then whoever does your payroll to get the correct info to them. Maddeningly, TP won't respond to emails directly from you with evidence of your days out (or lack of days out). Ask whoever does your finance to cc you in. Good luck - mine was a massive pain but added hundreds of pounds to my estimated annual pension amount.

Yes, Teachers Pension is your best bet. I have not always found them overly helpful though.

Thanks for your replies.
I was hoping that the days out wouldn't make much difference to my actual pension but it seems they do.
I've also noticed that the last three months show that I've only earned £1.00!
What a pain!!

I thought if you were part time - you would only have the days you working in the pension. So if there were 10 days for the term and you worked 4 of them - you would have 6 days out (as the pension is calculated on your FTE salary).

I'm not sure how you would be part time earning full time pension (if you do - please let me know how!)

But the days out should be regular, not random each month. Obviously if you're part-time you are getting a reduced pension though. My days out were nothing to do with my being part time. You also end up with days out on maternity leave.

Your pension is based on what you've paid in - your earnings - so a part timer will have paid less in, therefore will get less than a full timer?
I'm still not sure what difference the days out means though. I've found this on the TPS website but can't make sense of it!

Days out are just their way of accounting for part timers. If you're on 0.8, after 5 years your days out will be equivalent to 1 year of missed work days so like you have 4 years of service rather than 5 (80%). Years of service are counted as full time equivalent only.