Members lose pay for the period of absence, and do not build up any pension benefits. Therefore, no contributions are due for the period from employees or employers.

For each day a member is absent:

• It will slightly reduce the amount of pension to be credited to their career average revalued earnings (CARE) benefits.
• It may have a marginal impact on the final salary pay figure used to work out the benefits for a member who was in the Scheme before 01 April 2014 and who leaves within 12 months of the end of the strike.

If a member has a contract to pay additional voluntary contributions (AVCs), they may still have to pay these whilst on strike. Contracts for additional pension contributions (APCs), shared cost APCs (SCAPCs) and additional regular contributions (ARCs) must continue to be paid as they are set monthly payments. Payments for extra membership must continue to be paid based on the pay they would have received had they not been on strike. If the member has an AVC they may continue to pay contributions. For AVC life cover, members will need to continue to pay this if they want to ensure the cover does not lapse.

A member can choose to buy additional pension contributions (APCs) to cover the period of the strike. This is at no cost to the employer (unless you voluntarily decide to contribute towards the cost).

Members who were in the Scheme before 1 April 2014 must buy back the whole of the ‘lost’ pension to ensure that the period of absence is included when working out certain protections (and when working out final salary pay for benefits).

Members can buy an APC to cover a strike absence at any time whilst they are still an active member. However due to the factors used, the older a member is at the date of making an election, the higher the cost to buy back the amount of ‘lost’ pension.

If the member buys the ‘lost’ pension by making a lump sum payment, they will immediately be credited with the full amount of ‘lost’ pension bought. If they choose to pay by regular contributions, they will be credited when they complete the payments. Where the member hasn’t paid in full, they will owe the administering authority money, and it will be dealt with as a debt.

You must let members know about the APC facility for ‘lost’ pension due to a strike. Buying back the whole of the ‘lost’ pension will ensure that the period of absence is included when working out certain protections for members who joined the Scheme before 1 April 2014.

We’ve provided a frequently asked questions (FAQs) document which you can share with members to let them know about the APC facility, and the implications of not opting to pay the contributions. There is also an example letter on page 12 of the Local Government Association (LGA) circular which you may find useful.

You will need to work out the ‘lost’ pension for the period of absence. The value of the ‘lost’ pay is based on the pay the member ‘lost’ for that day(s) due to the strike. It is not based on assumed pay.

The amount of ‘lost’ pension is worked out as:

The ‘lost’ pay should not be added to the pensionable pay cumulative for that period of absence.

You will also need the member’s normal pension age or the State Pension age (whichever is higher). You can check State Pension age on the gov.uk website. 

If the member wants to buy the ‘lost’ pension, both you and the member need to request an estimate by completing the application form for the cost of buying lost pension to cover a period of absence (P38) (1) or (2).

Once the P38 has been received the estimate and election form will be sent out to the member by us. This must be returned to us by the member and the payment made whilst they are still an active member. We will then send a copy of the election form (P37) along with an instruction for the payment to you, as the employer. You will need to complete the payment form (P35a) and forward this to us once the deductions for payment have been set up.

If the amount is for less than £50, it must be paid in one lump sum. If the amount is over £50, then the cost can be made by regular contributions, or by a one off lump sum. If the member is within one year of their State Pension age, they can only buy an APC by lump sum payment.

You will need to detail any APC payments the member pays through payroll on the payment advice pension contributions (P8) form each month. The APC amount collected through payroll should also be included on your monthly data submission and should show the cumulative amount of APCs paid by the member.

If you have decided to use your discretion as an employer and contribute to the cost as a SCAPC, you will also need to detail on the P8 any APC payments you make as an employer.

• 1/49 of the ‘lost’ pay during the period of absence if the member was in the main section during that period.
• 1/98 of the ‘lost’ pay if they were in the 50/50 section.
• P38(1) is used when the member starts the process of requesting an estimate. You provide the form but only complete your section once the member has returned it.
• P38(2) is used when you want to start the process and send the form with your section already completed.

How to notify us of members not buying APCs to cover the ‘lost’ pension

You should only inform us of the dates of any breaks in service due to a strike if the member does not take out an APC/SCAPC contract.

If you submit your i-Connect return using a CSV file, then you should complete the break in service start and end date fields as well as the service break indicator.

If you submit your i-Connect return using the online return, then you need to complete the change in member’s detail spreadsheet (P5s) with the break in service start and end date fields as well as the reason. This should be sent to the Employer Data team.