If you return to work in local government or for an employer who offers membership of the LGPS after retirement, your pension could be affected, and your payments may be stopped or reduced. This is known as abatement, which means that because you are earning a salary, you are considered to no longer be retired.
The general rule is that if your new salary and pension do not exceed your pre-retirement salary, your pension payments would not be affected. However:
If you are receiving a pension from us, all of which you built up after 31 March 2014, and your pension was awarded by:
… you must inform the employer who awarded you that pension. They will let you know whether your pension in payment should be stopped.
If you are receiving a pension from us, some or all of which you built up before 1 April 2014, and you are re-employed in local government or by an employer who offers membership of the LGPS.
In this case, you must tell us about your new employment, regardless of whether you join the Scheme in your new position or not. We will let you know whether your pension in payment is affected in any way.
The amount of reduction or the suspension of your pension will depend on your income from your new job and your individual circumstances. We will need to check to see how much of your LGPS pension you can keep during your further period of employment.
The amount of your Local Government Pension you can keep receiving during post-retirement work may change if your new salary and pension exceed your pre-retirement salary, this could be due to:
You must notify us if you are affected by these employment changes.
If you don’t do this your pension may be overpaid and you will have to pay the money back.
You can tell us about your new employment and notify us of any employment changes which could affect your pension by calling our helpline on 01225 395100.
