Following a period of consultation, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has implemented changes to the NHS Pension Scheme to enable members with 1995 Section benefits who retire and return to re-join the Scheme from 1 April 2023.
Members of the 1995 Section who retired and returned to work before 1 April 2023 can also now re-join the Scheme.
Members who re-join the Scheme can build up further pension in the 2015 Scheme. When staff retire and return, their employment ends, and a new employment begins if they return to work.
Further changes are being introduced from 1 October 2023, to enable members with 1995 Section benefits to take partial retirement.
You can read more about the changes on the 'Your options for a flexible retirement' page of our Member Hub.
Interaction between retirement flexibilities and closed direction/determination documents
In line with HM Treasury’s New Fair Deal (NFD) policy, direction/determination documents provide ongoing NHS Pension Scheme access to NHS staff who are subject to a compulsory TUPE transfer.
TUPE stands for 'Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006' and its amendment in 2014.
Direction/determination documents provide staff who are subject to a compulsory TUPE transfer with what is known as the ‘golden thread’. This means they can continue to access the NHS Pension Scheme in the event of subsequent transfers, as long as they continue to perform the same role or function that they initially performed for the NHS.
The current drafting of closed direction/determination documents states that eligibility for the NHS Pension Scheme will cease should affected staff leave an employment where they worked wholly or mainly on the delivery of NHS services.
In order to allow staff working for direction employers to access the new retirement flexibilities, DHSC is in the process of updating the drafting of determination templates to allow those staff who return to work to re-join the 2015 Scheme and build up further pension.
In the meantime, direction employers with staff who plan to retire, and return can confirm that access to the NHS Pension Scheme will be provided to staff who return, providing they perform the same role that they performed before retirement, in which they wholly or mainly support the delivery of NHS services. This includes where staff return in a reduced capacity.
Until updated determination templates are available, employers can request a letter of comfort from the NHSBSA as a guarantee of these arrangements.
Interaction between retirement flexibilities and open access arrangements
Staff who access the Scheme via an open direction/determination and retire and return should be reassessed against the direction/determination eligibility criteria upon their return to work.
Some open direction/determination documents require staff to have been eligible for the NHS Pension Scheme within the 12 months prior to the start of their employment in order to access the Scheme. In cases where staff retired and returned before the introduction of retirement flexibilities, they may not satisfy the 12-month eligibility rule. In such circumstances, employers should assess staff as being eligible for the scheme for 12 months starting on 1 April 2023. This gives staff 12 months to decide whether to re-join the NHS Pension Scheme.
Staff who retire and return to an independent provider should be reassessed against the eligibility criteria upon their return to work. In cases where staff retired and returned before the introduction of retirement flexibilities, they may not satisfy the 12-month eligibility rule. In such circumstances, where staff work for a ‘closed access’ independent provider, they should be assessed as being eligible for the scheme for 12 months starting on 1 April 2023.