We are recognised and rewarded

We are recognised and rewardedPensions and flexible working in your later career

Find the balance between work and what matters most to you as you approach retirement through a variety of flexible working options.

And whatever you choose you can still make the most of your pension. In fact, flexible working means you can carry on building on what you’ve got, and still protect your loved ones with life assurance and other great benefits.

Your NHS pension has a lot to offer – here’s a reminder of just a few of its benefits. Your pension is payable for the rest of your life – and fully guaranteed by the government. Your pension increases in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) It’s extremely generous – the employer contribution is 20.6% of your pensionable pay – you’re unlikely to find the same level of personal and dependent cover for the same amount anywhere else. Your pension offers financial support for your family too – life assurance lump sum of twice your salary and annual pensions for your partner and children should the worst happen.

Below are some examples of how different flexible working options could see you continue using your skills and experience in the way that best suits you, and the impact they could have on your pension benefits in the NHS Pension Scheme.

For our illustration, we’ve used an example of an “Officer” member of the NHS Pension Scheme who was age 55 on 1 April 2022 (and so has both 1995 section and 2015 scheme benefits). However, the broad range of options illustrated are available to most colleagues who want to explore them (including those with “Practitioner” benefits, too).

Take a look at the flexible working options below – and if you’d like to know more please speak to your manager.

Finally, if you need to find out more information about the pension benefits that you have please look on your Total Reward Statement or contact the administrator (the NHS Business Services Authority) using their member hub.

1. Stay with the NHS for a little longer and see if you could get more from your pension

2. Take on a new challenge and see if you could build your pension

3. Change your hours or use your skills differently for a better work/life balance

4. See if retiring and coming back in a different role could work for you

Think you’re getting close to your lifetime allowance?

Even if you reach the lifetime allowance amount, you may still be able to continue to increase the annual income and lump sum you’ll get at retirement if you keep on working – see for yourself how the lifetime allowance works in practice.

See your own pension benefits on your Total Reward Statement

Flexible retirement and the pension scheme positives – A4 flyer