Returning to work after retirement

Abatement of pension during re-employment

Whether your re-employment is pensionable or not, your pension may be subject to abatement. If, however, you retired on ARB or phased retirement grounds your pension will not be abated.

You must notify us immediately if you take up any re-employment.

Returning to Work after Premature Retirement

While there is no legal impediment to the re-employment of prematurely retired teachers, as a general principle it is to be regarded as undesirable in view of the significant pension and compensation costs that have already been incurred.

Re-employment is particularly hard to justify in ‘Efficient Discharge’ cases where the grounds for premature retirement related to the teacher’s effectiveness.

Returning to work after ill-health retirement

Ill-health benefits are awarded because you are permanently medically unfit to teach so if you return to teaching your ill-health pension must stop immediately. It is your responsibility to notify TPB immediately of any employment undertaken when in receipt of ill-health benefits. If you wish to return to teaching your employer must be satisfied that you are fit to teach in the capacity required.

If your pension is stopped, another ill health pension can only be put back into payment if you become ill again and satisfy the medical advisors that you have again become unfit to teach. You can retire on other grounds at the appropriate age. If your re-employment is pensionable, future retirement benefits will be calculated to take account of the extra reckonable service and new salary rates.

If you are considering returning to teaching you must inform TPB.

If you are in receipt of a TIB pension and you intend to return to employment outside of teaching and you want your TIB pension to continue, you must provide the Department of Education with a certificate from a registered medical practitioner that in the opinion of the medical practitioner you still meet the medical condition for TIB to be paid. The nature of your proposed employment will also assist the Department of Education in coming to his decision about whether or not the TIB pension can continue to be paid.

In all cases TPB will need to know:

• the name and address of your employer;
• the date your employment started;
• the duration, if known;
• the rate of salary;
• A Job Description
• the nature of employment (indicating whether it is full or part-time).

If you forget to tell TPB about any employment whilst receiving a pension and you are overpaid, TPB will recover this debt from you in full.