Local Government Pension Scheme

About your job

• What happens if I leave and I have more than one job?

  Many people pay into the LGPS in more than one job at the same time. If this applies to you and leave one or more of those jobs, but not all of them, your LGPS pension will be affected. Your pension from the job that has ended will be transferred automatically to your continuing pension account.

  If you qualified for a deferred pension in the post that has ended, you may elect to keep your benefits separate. Your pension fund will give you more information that will help you make your decision. You must make this choice within 12 months of the date the job ended, unless your employer allows you longer. This is an employer discretion and you can ask your employer what their policy is.

  If you joined the LGPS before 1 April 2014 in the post that has ended, then you would be transferring final salary membership to your ongoing pension account. This final salary membership is adjusted to reflect the difference in the whole-time rates of pay in the job that has ended and the continuing job. When you eventually leave the scheme, your final salary benefits will be based on the pay in the continuing job. If the continuing job is higher paid, then the final salary membership is reduced. If the continuing job is lower paid, then the final salary membership is increased.

• What happens if my job is transferred to a private contractor?

  If your job is transferred to a private contractor, your pension may be affected. There are two possible outcomes:

  • The contractor will commonly become an admission body in the LGPS. This will allow you to stay in the LGPS as long as you continue working on the delivery of the same service. The pension benefits you built up before the transfer will be joined to your continuing pension account, unless you choose to keep them separate. See the section on transferring in for more information.
  • The contractor may offer you a broadly comparable scheme. This does not mean that the new scheme must match the benefits of the LGPS exactly, but the value of the package offered by the new scheme must be broadly equivalent to the LGPS. If you are offered a broadly comparable scheme, your options concerning your LGPS benefits are the same as those open to anyone leaving before retirement.