Many members of the scheme choose to work less than full-time for all or part of their career. The calculation of benefits for part-time members is exactly the same as for full-time members, but of course during periods of part-time membership your pension will build up more slowly as your salary will be lower.
Remember the pension calculation is:-
1/80 X Salary in each year, plus 3 X the pension as a tax-free lump sum.
So your pension built up each year will always reflect your salary in that year, with exceptions for certain absences like maternity leave. For more information on maternity leave click here.
If you are currently paying into the Revalued Benefits AVC, this is based on a flat-rate contribution. If your salary falls, for whatever reason you will continue to pay the same flat-rate contribution. If you can no longer afford this then you may terminate that contract early and possibly restart another contract at a lower rate.
Variable-time employees
A variable-time employee is an employee who is paid on a basis that is not calculated either by reference to a fixed annual salary, or in such a way that it would be reasonably practicable to identify a fraction of part-time working.
Variable-time employees may or may not have a fixed term contract. Where any doubt arises about the variable time status of an individual (for the purposes of the scheme), USS has the power to decide whether or not a member is a variable-time employee.
How is this different to a part-time employee?
A part-time employee is a regular employee who does not work full-time and is paid wholly or in part by reference to a salary, which is a fraction of salary received by their colleagues in the same role with a full-time commitment. For example, an employee who has a contract stating the hours they work and their rate of pay, just like a full-time permanent employee, except the hours they work are not full-time.
Additionally, if you are a variable-time employee you are not normally automatically entered into the scheme, you have to apply, so please contact your employer for more information on how to apply.
Other than these differences the pension is worked out slightly differently for any variable-time employments you may have. This is because the only information we have to work from is the contribution you paid to USS. We need to work out your salary for the year from this contribution.
For example, if you paid in £750.00 from a variable-time appointment your salary for that appointment for that year would be £750.00 divided by 6.5%, giving £11538.46. Your pension in that year for that appointment would be 1/80 X £11538.46, giving an annual pension of £144.23 plus tax-free cash of £432.69.