How is my service, shown on the ABS, calculated?

Members of final salary schemes (classic, classic plus and premium)

In your ABS, your service will be counted in two ways:

1. Reckonable service – this is the service that counts towards your pension benefits. The following circumstances don’t count as reckonable service:

• unpaid leave
• career breaks
• strike days
• sick pay at pension rate

If you need to know if any of these have been applied to your pension record, please contact your employer.

2. Qualifying service - this is usually the length of time you have been in employment.

However, for some members this may not be as straight forward. For example where transferred in service has been agreed to count as qualifying but non-reckonable.

Members of nuvos and alpha

Your pension benefits are accrued based on the pensionable earnings you receive, as such if you work part-time hours you’ll receive pro-rated pensionable earnings.

If you have part-time service:

Final salary schemes (classic, classic plus, premium)

Part-time reckonable service is calculated on a pro-rata basis, so reckonable service accrues in line with the hours you have worked. This is calculated as follows:

Part-time hours/full time hours X reckonable service

If you are partially retired:

Your ABS only provides the details of your active service. Reckonable service and pension is calculated from the day after you take partial retirement. 

If you have deferred service:

Any deferred service will not show on your statement. Your ABS only provides the details of your active service.

If you would like a current value for your deferred service, please request a deferred benefit statement by contacting us.

If you have casual service:

Casual employment is not reckonable for pension purposes apart from in the specific circumstances below.

Between 1 April 1993 and 30 September 2002, if you were in a casual post and fulfilled either of the following conditions:

a)      You transferred directly from a casual to permanent pensionable appointment.

b)      You were still in post on or after 20 July 1995.

If either occurred, a proportion of that period of casual service is reckonable.

Proportion of classic casual service calculation

The proportion of casual service that counts after 1 April 1993 is dependent upon the employee’s age at the point the permanent employment was taken up and is as follows: