Pensions

One of the UCU's key roles is to be involved with pensions matters and to represent your interests.

All eligible staff are strongly recommended to join the employers' occupational pension scheme.

Pensions are a major topic and, even for those in their 20s and 30s, should be taken seriously as they are deferred pay and are very important in later life.

This will usually be a defined benefit scheme based on length of service and pensionable salary.

LATEST

Review of USS

For the latest news on proposed changes to USS please click here

Some key questions are answered here: USS changes - key questions

UCU is committed to ensuring that USS remains an attractive and affordable pension scheme.

Changes to state pension

Information on changes to the state pension is available in 'State Pension Changes – Part1 – March 2010 at www.firstactuarial.co.uk

The schemes

Across the education sector there are currently several different schemes and the scheme offered will depend on the employing institution and sometimes on the category of employment.

Higher education

The great majority of current staff working in pre-92 higher education institutions are members of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), and a small number remain in the modified Federated Superannuation System for Universities (FSSU), or their own university superannuation schemes.

Members working in the post-1992 higher education institutions in England and Wales will normally be offered membership of either the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) or a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) as applicable to their post.

Members in Scottish conference sector institutions may be covered by the Scottish Teachers' Superannuation Scheme (STSS) or a local government scheme.

Some members whose employment has been transferred from one institution to another on merger have been required to remain in a statutory scheme though new entrants are offered USS membership instead.

As the employer contribution rates in TPS and USS are now very close any member moving from a pre-1992 to a post-1992 institution needs to be aware that some post-92 institutions are members of USS for the purpose of enabling staff coming from this sector to remain with USS; you would need to check if this applies to you, and then take advice on whether or not you should remain in USS.

Further education

If you work in further education and colleges of higher education in England and Wales you are probably covered by the Teachers' Pension Scheme (TPS) or a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) as applicable to your post. There are similar, but separate, arrangements for teachers in Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.

Part-time & hourly paid staff

Most schemes have made provision for those in part-time or irregular (hourly paid) employment to become members to meet the requirements of the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations. Whether the contract is permanent, fixed-term, or part-time should make no difference to the entitlement to join a pension scheme; any year lost in your early career is expensive to make up later.

If you are an hourly-paid lecturer in a post-1992 institution you will now be automatically a member of the Teachers Pension Scheme, unless you opt out. If you became a fractional lecturer after 2006, you will also be a member, if you were a fractional lecturer before 1 January 2007 you will still have to opt into Teachers Pensions.

If you are a member of staff in a pre-1992 establishment and work part-time you will have to opt into USS.

UCU: looking after members' interests

UCU has representation on the staff side of the negotiating machinery of TPS and USS (sole representation in the latter case) and has representation on the management bodies of USS and the Medical Research Council Pension Scheme. There is an agreement on consultation over the FSSU supplementation scheme.

Scheme administrators

• TPS is run by Capita Teachers' Pensions (CTP), an agency contracted by the DfES; their website is at www.teacherspensions.co.uk
• STSS is run by the Scottish Pensions Agency details at www.sppa.gov.uk
• LGPS details are at www.lgps.org.uk
• USS is managed by its trustee company USS Ltd with full details of the scheme at www.usshq.co.uk

The main points of TPS and USS provision for those now in service are set out in this section, as are brief notes on LGPS and STSS; for further advice members should contact their UCU branch or regional office.