NHS Pension Question

AnotherJoe

MFW2026 said:

Do they base the 1/54 of your salary on your FT salary if working PT or PT salary?

Surely it's got to be 1/54th of your actual salary, eg your PT salary, because otherwise your pension could easily end up being much higher than your salary. And it would mean that, for example,  someone working one day a week got the same pension as someone who worked five days a week.

ewaste

AnotherJoe said:

MFW2026 said:

Do they base the 1/54 of your salary on your FT salary if working PT or PT salary?

Surely it's got to be 1/54th of your actual salary, eg your PT salary, because otherwise your pension could easily end up being much higher than your salary. And it would mean that, for example,  someone working one day a week got the same pension as someone who worked five days a week.

If you only work 20% of the FTE equivalent hours your accrual rate or 'reckonable service' is much lower than someone working full time. It's one of the reasons you often see questions or ignorant rants on here about how hard done to folk are when they worked for XYZ employer for 30+ years but only have 18 years reckonable service in a pension scheme. 

Edited to add:- It's mainly so that a nurse etc working full time who then wants to drop to 0.5 FTE isn't forced to either leave completely or have their pension destroyed by having it calculated on 0.5 FTE. Instead they can carry on for 10 years at 0.5 FTE hours and accrue another 5 years of pension accrual at the FTE salary. 

AnotherJoe

ewaste said:

AnotherJoe said:

MFW2026 said:

Do they base the 1/54 of your salary on your FT salary if working PT or PT salary?

Surely it's got to be 1/54th of your actual salary, eg your PT salary, because otherwise your pension could easily end up being much higher than your salary. And it would mean that, for example,  someone working one day a week got the same pension as someone who worked five days a week.

If you only work 20% of the FTE equivalent hours your accrual rate or 'reckonable service' is much lower than someone working full time. It's one of the reasons you often see questions or ignorant rants on here about how hard done to folk are when they worked for XYZ employer for 30+ years but only have 18 years reckonable service in a pension scheme. 

Edited to add:- It's mainly so that a nurse etc working full time who then wants to drop to 0.5 FTE isn't forced to either leave completely or have their pension destroyed by having it calculated on 0.5 FTE. Instead they can carry on for 10 years at 0.5 FTE hours and accrue another 5 years of pension accrual at the FTE salary. 

But in that case they've already accrued the previous pension at FT salary when working FT so they won't lose out, it's just their accrual rate going forward will drop but it's being added to what they've already "banked". 
 I think where the issue lies in is FS pensions when you get some % of your highest salary over the last so many years, so if you went PT for long enough you'd be penalised as your higher salary would drop off. In those case these days they usually uprate to allow for that. Teachers are the classic example you often see in here. 

nigelbb

ewaste said:

AnotherJoe said:

MFW2026 said:

Do they base the 1/54 of your salary on your FT salary if working PT or PT salary?

Surely it's got to be 1/54th of your actual salary, eg your PT salary, because otherwise your pension could easily end up being much higher than your salary. And it would mean that, for example,  someone working one day a week got the same pension as someone who worked five days a week.

If you only work 20% of the FTE equivalent hours your accrual rate or 'reckonable service' is much lower than someone working full time. It's one of the reasons you often see questions or ignorant rants on here about how hard done to folk are when they worked for XYZ employer for 30+ years but only have 18 years reckonable service in a pension scheme. 

Edited to add:- It's mainly so that a nurse etc working full time who then wants to drop to 0.5 FTE isn't forced to either leave completely or have their pension destroyed by having it calculated on 0.5 FTE. Instead they can carry on for 10 years at 0.5 FTE hours and accrue another 5 years of pension accrual at the FTE salary. 

There is no concept of reckonable service for the 2015 scheme as it is not needed as it is a career average scheme not final salary. Your accrued NHS pension in the 2015 scheme is 1/54 of whatever your pensionable pay was for regular contracted hours excluding overtime (in excess of whole time hours).