I am part-time

If you are employed part time by the company or have a period of part-time service, you enjoy the same benefits under the scheme as those members working full-time. However, working part-time means you are earning less pensionable service and because you are earning less than a full-timer in the same role, we adjust the way in which we calculate your contributions and your pension.

Working out contributions for part-time service

As a part-timer your contributions will be based on a percentage of your pensionable salary less a proportion of the pensionable earnings reduction. The percentage you pay in contributions depends which section of the scheme you are in; Standard or Pension+. The pensionable earnings reduction is proportionate to the amount of hours you work in comparison to a full-timer.

Working out pensions for part-time service

For part-timer we use a notional full-time equivalent scheme salary, but we adjust the pensionable service element of the pension calculation to reflect the lower hours worked.

For example:

Pensions for part-time service
Section:	Standard (accrual rate 1.4%)
Part-time hours:	3 days a week (full-timer work 5 days)
Pensionable service adjustment:	3÷5 = 60%
Part-time scheme salary:	£15,000 a year
Full-time equivalent scheme salary:	£15,000 ÷ 60% = £25,000
Therefore, one year’s pension on this basis would be calculated as:	£25,000 X 1.4% X 60% = £210 a year.

We calculate all full-time service before or after being part-time in the normal way, that is:	Scheme salary X Accrual rate X years and days of pensionable service.
Therefore, we would work out one year’s pension for a full-timer as:	£25,000 X 1.4% X 100% = £350 a year.

When you leave or retire we work out your pension by taking the aggregate of your full-time and part-time pensionable service multiplied by the relevant accrual rate(s) and your pensionable salary. The important fact to note is that the same salary is used for both full-time and part-time service.