Retirements

i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the retirement date.
• Enter the employee as a leaver on your monthly i-Connect return. You must submit leaver information within one month of the employee leaving.
• There is no cost to the employer; pension benefits will be reduced in all cases unless the employee is retiring at their Normal Pension Age.
• Employees can run their own quotes for voluntary retirement from age 55 onwards on My Pension Online.

Not an i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the retirement date.
• Submit a Leaver form within one month of the employee leaving.
• There is no cost to you as the employer; pension benefits will be reduced in all cases unless the employee is retiring at their Normal Pension Age.
• Employees can run their own quotes for voluntary retirement from age 55 onwards on My Pension Online.

Flexible retirement supports a gradual move into retirement by allowing current members of the LGPS (with two or more years membership) to access their pension benefits and continue to work.

You are required to have a discretions policy on flexible retirement.  Your policy should detail whether your organisation permits flexible retirement for staff aged 55 or over who reduce their working hours or grade. Employees must take the pension benefits they have accrued prior to 1 April 2008 but your policy must state if the member can choose to take:-

• all, none or some of the benefits built up between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2014 and or;
• all, none or some of the benefits built up from 1 April 2014

If flexible retirement is agreed for an employee aged 55 or over but under 60 there may be a strain on the Fund cost payable by the employer. In all circumstances you should request an estimate from the Fund to check whether a strain cost would be payable. You can choose to waive any early retirement reductions (either in full or in part) for flexible retirement, this should be part of your discretions policy as this will result in a cost.

i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the flexible retirement date.
• Provide confirmation of whether the strain cost will be paid over 5 years, 3 years or in one lump sum at the time of retirement.
• Enter the employee as a leaver on your monthly i-Connect return. You must submit leaver information within one month of the employee’s flexible retirement date.
• Send an email with the employer authority agreeing to the flexible retirement and any associated costs to pensions@northyorks.gov.uk.
• When the employee starts their new post, LGPS contributions should be deducted and the new post should be added as a ‘new starter’ to the next i-Connect return. The employee can opt out if they wish.

Not an i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the flexible retirement date.
• Provide confirmation of whether the strain cost will be paid over 5 years, 3 years or in one lump sum at the time of retirement.
• Submit a Leaver form within one month of the employee’s retirement date. Upload the authority agreeing the employee’s flexible retirement request.
• When the employee starts their new post, LGPS contributions should be deducted and you should submit a new membership form. The employee can opt out if they wish.

When a member who is 55 leaves with two or more years membership is made redundant or leaves on the grounds of business efficiency they are entitled to immediate payment of unreduced pension benefits; the employer must meet the strain cost.

The North Yorkshire Pension Fund (NYPF) will only provide an estimate on these grounds if it is requested by the employer.

Please use the Employer request for estimate of benefits form for a calculation of the strain cost and the pension benefits payable on the grounds of redundancy/business efficiency.  If several estimates are needed please contact the NYPF.

i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the redundancy/business efficiency retirement date.
• Enter the employee as a leaver on your monthly i-Connect return. You must submit leaver information within one month of the employee’s redundancy/efficiency retirement date.
• Send an email with the employer authority confirming the redundancy and agreeing to meet any associated strain cost to pensions@northyorks.gov.uk.
• Provide confirmation of whether the strain cost will be paid over 5 years, 3 years or in one lump sum at the time of retirement.

Not an i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the redundancy/business efficiency retirement date.
• Submit a Leaver form within one month of the employee’s redundancy/business efficiency retirement date. Upload the authority confirming the redundancy and agreeing to meet any associated cost to pensions@northyorks.gov.uk.
• Provide confirmation of whether the strain cost will be paid over 5 years, 3 years or in one lump sum at the time of retirement.

When a member who is 55 or over leaves with two or more years membership they are entitled to immediate payment of their pension benefits.

You can choose to waive early retirement reductions for retirements prior to Normal Pension Age. There are different rules depending on the member’s service and reason for leaving. You can also choose to switch on the 85-year rule for retirements between age 55 and 60 (only applicable to employees who joined the LGPS prior to 1 October 2006). You are required to have a policy on these discretions.

i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the retirement date.
• Enter the employee as a leaver on your monthly i-Connect return. You must submit leaver information within one month of the employee’s retirement date.
• Send an email with your authority showing the decision to increase the employee’s benefits (in line with your discretions policy) to pensions@northyorks.gov.uk.
• Provide confirmation of whether the strain cost will be paid over 5 years, 3 years or in one lump sum at the time of retirement.

 Not an i-Connect user

• Complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the retirement date).
• Submit a Leaver form within one month of the employee’s retirement date. Upload your authority showing the decision to increase the employee’s benefits (in line with your discretions policy).
• Provide confirmation of whether the strain cost will be paid over 5 years, 3 years or in one lump sum at the time of retirement.

Ill health retirement is available to all employees aged between 16 and 75 who have two or more years membership of the scheme. Three Tiers of benefits are available for active members depending on the likelihood of the member being able to undertake gainful employment in the future. You may want to signpost the employee to the ill health guide (for current members).

Ill health retirement is an employer driven process and applies to both current employees and employees who have deferred benefits in the scheme. Tiers do not apply to employees with deferred benefits. You may want to signpost the employee to the ill health guide (for deferred members).

There is no upfront pension strain cost for ill health retirements as the cost is built into the employer contribution rate set at each triennial valuation.

Responsibility for deciding the grounds on which the employment of an LGPS member will be terminated rests solely with the employer and is a separate issue to the award of ill health benefits. An employee’s employment can be terminated before the ill health process is completed with a certificate subsequently obtained to help determine whether the member satisfies the criteria for an ill health retirement pension.

An employer cannot make an ill health retirement determination unless they have obtained a certificate from an Independent Registered Medical Practitioner.

i-Connect user

• Check the ill health retirement employer guide.
• If appropriate, complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the retirement date.
• Enter the employee as a leaver on your monthly i-Connect return. You must submit leaver information within one month of the employee’s ill health retirement date.
• Email the ill health certificate to pensions@northyorks.gov.uk.

 Not an i-Connect user

• Check the ill health retirement employer guide.
• If appropriate, complete an Advance Notification of Retirement (ADNOT) form at least six weeks before the ill health retirement date).
• Submit a Leaver form within one month of the employee’s ill health retirement date. Upload the completed ill health certificate.