Retirement

You may opt to retire from age 55 onwards without our consent but your retirement benefits may be subject to actuarial reduction.  (Please see the pension page for more information)

Where this is being considered, a detailed business case must be submitted by your manager.

If you are unable to work due to ill-health you will be referred to our Occupational Health Adviser for advice in line with our Sickness Absence Policy. 

If advice confirms that you are unable to fulfil the full range of duties due to your ill-health we may consider changing your duties (Please see our Disability Information and Reasonable Adjustments Guidance) or look for redeployment into a more suitable job (Please see our Redeployment Policy). 

If neither of these options is possible your employment may be ended by us on the grounds of capability.  If you are a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) then your case will be referred to the Pension Fund’s Medical Adviser for an assessment and certificate to confirm whether or not your ill-health is sufficient for the award of ill health retirement benefits.

No retirement business case is required to support ill-health retirement.

There may be times when you can take early retirement early with our consent, with immediate release of your pension, if it is in the best interests of your service.  To apply you must be aged 55 or over.

Where this is being considered, a detailed business case must be submitted by your manager. The business case must detail the service delivery implications and the financial benefits that arise and how any costs from early retirement will be covered over a 3 year period.

Severance is available to you as an incentive to volunteer to leave your employment (please see our Severance Scheme 2015-18). It ends your employment contract on a mutually agreed date, with no notice period applying or payment in lieu.  If you are aged 55 years or over and a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) your pension benefits will also be released without any actuarial reduction.

Where this is being considered, a detailed business case must be submitted by your manager. The business case must detail the service delivery implications and the financial benefits that arise and how any costs from early retirement will be covered over a 3 year period.

If you voluntarily leave our employment through this Scheme you cannot work for us in any capacity, including on a casual basis, for at least one year. (Please read the Severance Scheme for details of the exceptional circumstances where this may be considered).

The ‘Rule of 85’ was a test to assess whether your Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) benefits would be actuarially reduced, if you retired before your State Pension Age. If your age and ‘calendar length’ LGPS membership (measured in whole years), when added together, equals 85 or more, your benefits would NOT be actuarially reduced after the age of 60. If the rule was NOT satisfied or you were between 55 and 59, a full actuarial reduction was applied to your benefits.

The ‘Rule of 85’ was abolished on 1 October 2006 with some protections put in place so that LGPS members  on 30 September 2006 would have some or all of their membership protected in line with the ‘Rule of 85’. For more information please contact the Dyfed Pension Team.

We can consider waiving the actuarial reduction where the ‘Rule of 85’ cannot be reached. (Please see our discretionary compensation policies on the pension page). Where this is being considered, a detailed business case must be submitted by your manager.

Flexible or phased retirement is a planned approach to retirement if you are aged 55 years or more, in line with our Flexible/Phased Retirement Policy. It involves a voluntary reduction in hours and/or a move to a lower graded post and at the same time allows you access your accrued pension benefits. There may be actuarial reduction to your pension where you retire before your state pension age and do not fully qualify for any ‘Rule of 85’ protections.

Where this is being considered, a detailed business case must be submitted by your manager.

You may find yourself in a difficult or sensitive situation and wish to apply for early retirement on compassionate grounds. We will consider every aspect of an application for early retirement including any compassionate grounds but this should not be the sole reason for your application. 

Pension benefits, once released, are payable for life and there are financial implications for us as your employer that we have to consider before any decision can be made.  Where you provide compassionate reasons for us to consider, especially under ‘Rule of 85’ retirements, these will be detailed in the business case and you may be asked to provide supporting documents to accompany it.

Where this is being considered, a detailed business case must be submitted by your manager.