If you are granted unpaid leave of absence:
the first 30 days – full Local Government Pension Scheme membership continues to build up during this period and you must pay the pension contributions that would have been paid had you been at work.
after 30 days - this period will not count as membership unless you pay for it to do so. You can elect to pay contributions for the whole period of your absence, up to a maximum of 3 years, and maintain your full pension benefits.
For the period to count towards your membership, you must pay the contributions that you would have paid if you had been at work.
Paying back contributions
You can pay back contributions after authorised leave of absence. Your employer will write to you within 30 days of your return to work , (or within 30 days of leaving if you do not return) to give you this option and they will let you know how much this would cost. If you do not repay contributions, this period will not count as scheme membership.
What if I am paying extra?
If you have entered into a contract to buy extra pension (additional regular contributions) or additional LGPS membership (added years) and you are absent from work due to authorised leave of absence, you must continue to make the extra pension payments and/or payments to buy additional membership you had contracted to pay as if you were not on leave.
AVCs
If you are paying Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) you can arrange to continue to make your AVC payments throughout your leave. If you are paying AVCs for extra life cover you should arrange to continue with these payments throughout your leave or cover may cease.
Working part time and your pension
Scheme membership is based on full time hours. So if you are part-time, your membership is worked out on a pro rata basis.
For example, if you work 18 hours per week in a job where full time is 36 hours per week and you work the whole calendar year, your scheme membership for the year will be half the full time - 183 days instead of 365 days.
When you leave or retire, your pension is worked out using the pay you would receive if you worked full time and your pro-rata service as calculated above.