Ministry of Defence Statement of Civilian Personnel
Ministry of Defence Statement of Civilian Personnel
Ministry of Defence Statement of Civilian Personnel
Version: 2.1
DESCRIPTION
• resignation;
• resignation after the approval of Actuarially Reduced Retirement and
Individual Approved Early Retirement;
• resignation with immediate payment of pension (i.e. retirement);
• partial retirement;
• the amount of notice of resignation you must give; and
• attending the Planning for Retirement course.
OVERVIEW
With the removal of the Normal Retirement Age from 1 April 2010 the MOD no
longer requires its employees to retire at a specific age; this means that
employees can carry on working and must follow the resignation process
when they decide to leave and draw their pension. This PRG also explains
partial retirement and the Planning for Retirement course.
This policy has been Equality and Diversity Impact Assessed in accordance
with the Department’s Equality and Diversity Impact Assessment Tool against:
• MOD Police Officers and Defence Fire & Rescue Service personnel –
see separate Policy, Rules & Guidance.
• Locally engaged civilians
• Former MOD employees, pensioners and dependents
• Prospective employees
• Fee earners and contractors
• People seconded or on loan to the MOD from OGDs, industry and
academia, or on work experience placements (who must follow their
parent organisation’s procedure)
Note: the rules and processes set out below include variations for members of
the Senior Civil Service, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, school-based teachers
employed by Service Children’s Education and US Visiting Forces personnel.
1. You may resign at any time, giving the correct period of notice for your
substantive grade as follows:
• Casual Staff – 1 week unless a longer period is called for in the letter of
appointment;
You must make sure that your last day of service is a working day.
2. Contractually you are not required to give extra notice if you want to
resign and claim your pension. However, you should be aware that the
Pension Administrator may need about 4 months to process your pension
paperwork. If you want your pension to start at the same time as your
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FOR YOU AS A MANAGER
2. Line managers have no role in the resignation process for the SCS.
This is undertaken by Corporate Capability.
3. Before accepting the resignation you must check that the appropriate
period of notice has been given for the substantive grade. The notice
periods are as follows:
• Casual Staff – 1 week unless a longer period is called for in the letter of
appointment;
3. If the individual is looking for a shorter notice period than set out above
you must seek advice from the PPPA about the financial implications before
agreeing to it. You must then discuss the situation with the individual. Where a
shorter notice period is agreed you must write to the individual, copied to the
PPPA within 2 days of receiving the original resignation letter.
5. The template letter asks you to certify that you have agreed the last
day of service and balance of annual leave with the individual.
7. You must send the letter and any associated material to the PPPA at:
People Pay and Pensions Agency
Leavers Team
PO Box 38
Cheadle Hulme
Cheshire SK8 7NU
You can contact the PPPA on 93345 7772 or 0800 345 7772 or by e-mail to
[email protected].
8. Having done that you must then update HRMS by recording the first
day of non effective service online (not the last day of service). If you
know that your employee is resigning to take their pension you must say so.
Alternatively you can telephone the People Service Centre on 93345 7772 or
0800 345 7772 and a customer service agent will enter the information for
you.
11. You must also consider whether a valedictory letter (see Related
Document – Valedictory letters) is appropriate.
12. To help you to keep track of what you and others need to do at the
various stages of the resignation process there is a checklist under Related
Documents that you may find useful.
Your normal and minimum pension ages will depend on the pension scheme
that you are in and whether you have “Scheduled Territory Service” (further
explanation of “Scheduled Territory Service” is given in paragraph 3 below).
It follows that you should check the details of your particular scheme to be
sure of your normal pension age. But note that Scheduled Territory Service
can reduce the age at which you can leave with full accrued benefits – see
below.
3.
Version Scheduled
2.1. : EffectiveTerritory
date: 1 AprilService
2010 - If you were posted to certainPage
areas
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overseas before THIS DOCUMENT
1 June 1972, youIS UNCONTROLLED WHEN
are able to receive PRINTED
full accrued pension
benefits earlier because your service is enhanced. The service is called
“Scheduled Territory Service” or “hot time” (in the Teachers Pension Scheme
FOR YOU AS A MANAGER
1. If your employee intends to resign and claim their pension (i.e. retire)
you must:
• Tell them they must follow the procedures set down in Task 1;
• Take
Version action to
2.1. : Effective prepare
date: a valedictory letter (see Related Document
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TIPS, HINTS AND FAQ
TIPS
National Insurance retirement pension (i.e. the State Pension) is payable from
the Monday following the date on which the person qualifies – currently that is
age 65 for men and age 60 for women (but note that the State pension for
women is being gradually raised to 65 by 2020). If the 65th (or 60th) birthday
falls on a Monday, the pension is payable with effect from that date. An
employee may incur a gap of several days between the end of employment
and the start of the State pension. Wherever possible, therefore, such staff
should remain in post until the last working day before the Monday on which
they are entitled to draw State pension if they want to avoid a gap in income.
FAQS
For Employees
A. If, for example, you are in the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme
(PCSPS), it is possible to leave the MOD before you reach your normal
pension age and to ask to receive your pension. Your particular pension
scheme will set a minimum pension age: typically, this will be 50 or, more
commonly now, 55. Provided that you are over the minimum pension age for
your scheme, and the resultant pension is greater than the Guaranteed
Minimum Pension, you can be paid your pension on an actuarially reduced
basis. This means that it will be reduced by a certain percentage for each year
that pension is paid early. The reduction is designed to take into account the
fact that, because it is being paid early, your pension will be paid for a longer
period of time. However, by leaving at your normal pension age you can
claim your pension without the reduction of benefits or, in other words, you
can receive your “full accrued benefits”.
A. You will only have Scheduled Territory Service if you were posted to
one of the areas shown in the Related Document: List of Scheduled
Territories before 1 June 1972. If you are in any doubt you can contact your
pension scheme administrator. Information on the relevant pension schemes
can be found under Related Links: Pension details and choices.
A. You must seek advice from your Pension Administrator (see Related
Link: Pension details and choices) as to the precise impact on your pension
if you continue to work beyond the normal pension age of your particular
scheme. However, in very broad terms you can continue to accrue reckonable
service beyond the normal pension provided that you have scope to do so.
For example, the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme 1972 “Classic”
Section allows the accrual of a maximum 45 years reckonable service up to
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TASK 3 – HOW TO WITHDRAW A RESIGNATION
1, If you change your mind about resigning once you have sent in a letter
to your line manager, it may be possible to withdraw it though your line
management is not obliged to accept its withdrawal.
You should discuss the matter with your line management and put your
request to them in writing. If they agree to the withdrawal of your resignation
they will confirm this in writing to you.
2. If you do not agree that your employee can withdraw their resignation
you must write to them to confirm your decision. A copy of your letter must be
passed to the PPPA Leavers Team for record purposes.
If you need to change your resignation date after it has been agreed with your
line manager, it may be possible but is not guaranteed.
You should discuss the matter with your line management: if they agree to a
change in the date they will confirm this in writing to you.
1. If you are asked to change a last day of service for any reason, it
should only be considered where the change can be achieved without
affecting the termination process and where it does not affect the business.
3. If you agree to the change in date, you must write to the individual to
confirm your agreement. In addition you must:
FAQs
For Employees:
A. There is no requirement to sign the OSA when you leave. You will have
signed the OSA when you were recruited to the MOD and the commitments
made at that time and signified by your signing the OSA are life-long.
Q2. What are the rules on confidentiality after I have left and on
speaking to or dealing with the media?
A. You continue to be bound by the same rules as when you were serving
– more information see Related Links - Standards of Conduct and
Behaviour.
A. No, but you may consider discussing the resignation with the individual
to establish the reason for the resignation and whether there is scope for the
decision to be reconsidered
Q2. Can I ask for a longer period of notice than that prescribed?
A. You cannot insist on a longer period of notice but you can discuss it
with the individual and if they agree an extension may be granted. There is no
compulsion on the individual to agree.
A. Valedictory letters are written for those who have worked in Page
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TASK 5 – PARTIAL RETIREMENT
2. To be eligible, you have to be over the minimum pension age for your
pension scheme and you must reshape your job so that your pensionable
earnings reduce by a minimum amount. Note that the rules may be different
for other pension schemes: for example the PCSPS requires a minimum 20%
reduction in earnings while the Teachers’ Pension Scheme requires a 25%
reduction in earnings. Some schemes might not offer an equivalent facility;
for instance the National Health Pension Scheme (NHS PS) only offers partial
retirement to members of the new NHS PS introduced from 1 April 2008 and
the PNISS scheme does not have an equivalent facility. You must check the
relevant website for your pension scheme. What follows in this Task relates
primarily to the rules of the Civil Service Pension Schemes.
Job Reshaping
3. Job reshaping is the term that has been adopted for the purposes of
explaining partial retirement and is critical to a proper understanding. In
essence it means no more than a modification to attendance at work (e.g.
fewer hours, fewer days, reduction in the level of responsibility) so that
pensionable earnings reduce by at least 20%. Your earnings may reduce by
more than 20% but you will not be able to take partial retirement where your
proposed reshaping would give a reduction in earnings of less than 20%.
Note that it is your pensionable earnings that must reduce by at least 20%; a
simple reduction in your working hours of 20% might not give a 20% reduction
in pensionable earnings. Where applicable, you will need to take into account
any additional allowances or shift pay in your calculations.
Pension benefits
5. You can choose to draw some or all of your pension and lump sum.
But note that if pension is drawn before the normal pension age of the
scheme, it will be reduced for early payment. Also bear in mind that if pension
drawn plus the reduced salary adds up to more than the salary prior to partial
retirement (the ‘salary of reference’) then the pension payable will be abated.
Time Limits
8. Applications should be made before job reshaping takes place but no
later than 3 months afterwards (that is, no later than 3 months after the
reduction in pensionable earnings of at least 20% has occurred). Pension will
be payable from the date of job reshaping and so arrears will be paid where
appropriate.
Revisions
9. It is important to bear in mind that partial retirement must be viewed as
a major commitment and one on which there is no going back. Consequently,
you should not be seeking partial retirement unless you are absolutely certain
that you are prepared to remain in the new/revised post until final retirement.
As explained earlier, the whole purpose of partial retirement is to enable
someone to retire gradually and to take some or all of their accrued pension
benefits. In this regard, job reshaping is different to amendments to working
patterns or job changes which are unrelated to partial retirement.
1. The decision to apply for partial retirement is personal to you and will
depend upon a mixture of factors. Financial considerations will be amongst
the factors you will need to consider. The Civil Service Pensions website
(www.civilservice.gov.uk/pensions) contains further guidance. There you
will also see a link for “Partial Retirement – a guide for scheme members” and
a calculator. These are designed to provide answers to questions you might
have and help you understand the possible financial consequences for your
income and final pension. You should refer to your latest annual PCSPS
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Benefit Statement (issued to you by the Pension Administrator around the
time of your birthday, unless you are a member of nuvos or buying Added
Pension, where your statement is issued annually after 1 April each year)
which will give you a clearer picture of your accrued benefits. The CSP 15
form must not be used in order to obtain an estimate of your pension; you
should use the partial retirement calculator for this. It is also your responsibility
to read the booklet “Partial Retirement – a guide for scheme members”.
2. If you decide to apply for partial retirement you should follow the
process set out in the Related Document – Working Patterns. Note,
however, that if your proposal is agreed, you need to complete the Civil
Service Pensions partial retirement form CSP 15 (see the Civil Service
Pensions website) as well as the Related Document - PPPA Form 080
Notification of Change of Working Pattern which your line manager must
complete.
3. You must bear in mind that approval of your request is not automatic
and you must be prepared for it to be turned down if your job reshaping
proposals cannot be accommodated. Where your line manager turns down a
job reshaping request there will be sound business reasons which your line
manager will be prepared to discuss. Only once your job reshaping proposal
has been approved can you complete and submit the partial retirement form
(CSP 15 which appears at the end of “Partial retirement – a guide for scheme
members”) to the Pension Administrator. Once you know the date from which
you will take partial retirement has been agreed, a PPPA Form 080 must be
completed and both forms sent to the Working Patterns team at PPPA. In
completing Section 4 of the CSP 15, the line manager should tick only the first
and third of the confirmatory statements. Verification of revised pensionable
earnings (second confirmatory statement in Section 4 and Section 5) will be
provided by PPPA Pay.
1. You should read ‘What you need to know’ for the employee above. But
bear in mind that partial retirement can offer benefits to the business as well
as to the employee. Job reshaping offers the same potential benefits as other
alternative working patterns, in particular:
• It allows the business to retain skills and expertise that might otherwise
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be lost if the individual took full retirement.
• Job reshaping can make space to bring on talent and enable valuable
skills and knowledge to be passed on.
2. You should discuss any request with your own line manager if you are
in any doubt – particularly if the job reshaping is likely to have an effect on
other teams or sections within the business unit.
3. You should remind the employee that, once the job reshaping has been
implemented and the pension benefits are in payment, it will not be possible to
increase working hours again. You may, however, consider modifications to
the reshaped job but only if they do not alter the new pensionable earnings.
4. If the job reshaping is approved you must ensure the completion and
submission of the Related Document - PPPA Form 080 Notification of
Change of Working Pattern and the Civil Service Pensions partial retirement
form CSP 15 (see the Civil Service Pensions website).
5. The Pension Administrator will send you a form CSP 16 to confirm that
the employee’s partial retirement is going ahead. You must then confirm that
the details on the CSP15 remain correct before completing and returning the
CSP16. The CSP15 will not include the details of the employee’s pay. The
Pension Administrator will then arrange for payment of lump sum/and or
pension to be paid to the employee.
7. You must send forms CSP15 and CSP16 promptly to allow as much
time as possible to process the award, otherwise the employee may go onto
their reduced salary before the lump sum and pension has been awarded.
8. If the employee decides not to go ahead with the partial retirement you
must to contact the Pension Administrator immediately and ask them not to
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process the award.
5a. PPPA Working Patterns Team writes 5b. PPPA Working Patterns Team writes to
to individual to confirm the change in individual to inform them that 20%
working pattern and the effective date reduction in salary has not been achieved.
and passes CSP15 to Pensions
awarding team.
6b. Individual reassesses business case,
seeks approval of revised proposal from
line manager.
Q2. My request for job reshaping has been turned down. Can I
appeal?
A. Don’t forget that the whole idea of partial retirement is to give people a
chance to adjust more gradually to retirement by allowing them to achieve a
different work/life balance. It doesn’t prevent those who want to from carrying
on in full-time employment; nor does it stop someone retiring but, later,
seeking re-employment to a different Civil Service job. If, however, someone
reaches normal pension age and takes full accrued benefits but then re-
employs, the abatement of pension rule is likely to affect them.
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TASK 6 – THE PLANNING FOR RETIREMENT COURSE
OVERVIEW
3. TLBs are responsible for ensuring that all those who are eligible have
access to the course, either through the centrally funded DA-CMT PfR
workshop or by making local arrangements such as, for example, external
training providing it conforms to standards set by the DA-CMT course. The
funding of any external courses provided is the responsibility of the local
budget area.
3. You will be given the opportunity to attend the course with your partner.
4. The travel and subsistence costs for both you and your partner are the
responsibility of your employing TLB.
5. If you are unable to attend the course before your last day of service for
management or health reasons you can attend the course up to 6 months
after your retirement/resignation. If you necessarily undertake the course after
you have left then the TLB which employed you immediately before you left
will meet your travel and subsistence costs.
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WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
1. You can apply for the Planning for Retirement (PfR) course any time
after you have reached your normal pension age but no more than 2 years
before your planned retirement date. (So, for example, if your normal pension
age is 60 but you plan to retire at age 63 then you should apply once you
reach 61.) If you prefer, you can apply for the PfR course after you receive
the letter from the Pensions Administrator which advises that you are
approaching the normal pension age.
2. You must apply to DA-CMT, Training Centre London or follow this link
for more information http://www.dblearning.dii.r.mil.uk/.
3. Employees will be given the opportunity to attend the course with their
partner.
4. The travel and subsistence costs for both the employee and their
partner are the responsibility of the employing TLB.
5. If the employee is unable to attend the course before their last day of
service for management or health reasons they can attend the course up to 6
months after their retirement/resignation. If employees necessarily undertake
the course after they have left then the TLB which employed them
immediately before leaving will meet the travel and subsistence costs.
6. Employees may apply for the PfR course up to 2 years before they
retire/resign.
A. No, you must decide which of the 2 courses you would like to attend.