Actives

Members pay contributions on any pensionable pay they actually receive but if a member starts a period of reduced contractual pay or nil pay as a result of sickness or injury or starts child related leave (i.e. ordinary maternity, paternity or adoption leave and any paid additional maternity, paternity or adoption leave or whilst on reserve forces service leave) assumed pensionable pay needs to be applied.

Note – contributions: employers will pay contributions on the assumed pensionable pay calculated but members pay contributions on the actual pay received (if any).

You will need to calculate APP for the member and substitute APP for the actual pay on the monthly return and when you are providing cumulative pensionable pay (CPP) to calculate benefits.

General

With effect from 1st April 2026 compulsory pension contributions are payable on authorised unpaid leave of less than 15 calendar days. This is based on the member’s contractual pay only.

Any period of unpaid additional maternity, paternity or adoption leave that start on or after 1st April 2026 you should continue to report the APP on the monthly return during any unpaid periods up to 52 weeks after the maternity leave started.  If a member is paying into the 50/50 section they will need to be moved back into the main section from the start of the next pay period.

APP replaces notional pay for members with reduced contractual pay or nil pay as a result of sickness or injury or during child related leave or whilst on reserve forces service leave.

Note – ordinary maternity leave: if a member is only entitled to ordinary maternity leave (first 26 weeks) and you are not paying them SMP, you still need to calculate APP  and put this on the monthly return for the full 52 weeks.

Calculate APP as an annual rate then apply it to the relevant period as a proportion of that rate. The relevant period starts on the date the member drops to reduced contractual pay or no pay due to sickness or injury or when the relevant child related leave or reserve forces service leave starts.

Note – reduction in pay: any reduction in pay as a result of strike or authorised absence during the 12 weeks or 3 months period prior to the member going on to reduced contractual pay or no pay as a result of sickness, injury, child related leave or reserve forces leave should be ignored when using the pay received during the 12 weeks/3 months to calculate the assumed pensionable pay for the member.

Note – APP ceases: APP ceases to accrue when a member ceases to be absent on reduced contractual pay or nil pay as a result of sickness or injury or on ceasing child related leave or on ceasing reserve forces service leave.

Example – calculating APP for a monthly-paid member

A monthly-paid member has received the following pensionable pay in the three complete months before the start of the relevant period, and you expect that APP will apply.

• Month 1 – £1,400
• Month 2 – £2,500 including a £1,000 regular bonus and £100 overtime
• Month 3 – £1,400

The annual rate of APP is (£1,400 + £1,500 + £1,400 ÷ 3) x 12 = £17,200

Remove the bonus before averaging and grossing up the calculation or it will artificially inflate the APP figure.

If (when the APP starts) you think it’s likely the member will again receive (during the relevant period when APP will apply) the regular lump sum payment they received in the previous 12 months, add it back into the annual rate of APP after you uprate it to an annual figure.

When you decide whether the lump sum should be added back into the APP annual rate, consider if the member will be still be on APP when they next get the lump sum.

In the example, if you decide the period of APP will extend to 11 months or more and the £1,000 bonus would have been paid again within the period of APP, the amount could be added back into the assumed annual pensionable pay rate.

The calculation is (£1,400 + £1,500 + £1,400 / 3) x 12 = £17,200 + £1,000 = £18,200

Proportioning

Decide what proportion of the annual APP that you calculated needs to be added in to CPP – this will be the length of the relevant period. If the relevant period is not in complete months or weeks, proportion it for the part pay period.

Calculate this just as you would to pay somebody for a part month.

If APP applies for the period 1 May 2014 to 3 August 2014 use three complete months and three days from August.

Example – proportioning three days’ pay

For three days in August this could be:

• Annual rate/365 x 3
• Annual rate/365 x 3/31
• Annual rate/12 x 3/22

Authorised unpaid absences

The following outlines employer responsibilities and member options relating to pension contributions during periods of absence. It applies to all Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) members and covers authorised unpaid leave, child related leave, strike absence, Reserve Forces Service Leave (RFSL), jury service, and sickness or injury.

Absences of Fewer Than 15 Calendar Days

From 1 April 2026, authorised unpaid absences lasting fewer than 15 calendar days remain pensionable.

Pension contributions are payable based on the member’s contractual pensionable pay.

Absences of 15 Calendar Days or More (QAPA)

For authorised unpaid absences of 15 calendar days or more, members may elect to buy back the lost pension through a Qualifying Additional Pension Arrangement (QAPA).

Members must make this election within one year of returning to work.

Employer Responsibilities

• Provide the member with the cost of buying back lost pension using the QAPA modeller.
• Complete the “Inputs” tab of the QAPA spreadsheet in accordance with the accompanying notes.
• Issue the appropriate results to the member:
  • Member Lump Sum Only (if regular contributions are not offered), and/or
  • Member Options (if regular contributions are offered).
• Add employer contact details to the form and member notes.

Deadlines and Adjustments

The standard deadline is one year from the member’s return to work. Employers may adjust this date:

• Later – where additional decision time has been granted.
• Earlier – where the member is within two years of Normal Pension Age or has an agreed leaving date.

If no election is made within the deadline and no extension is granted, the member must use the LGPS2014 modeller on the LGPS website to buy back lost pension. Provide the member with the lost pay figure using the absence form and follow the Strike break process.

Completion of the Process

• Send the QAPA form and notes to the member (post or PDF/email).
• If the member elects to proceed, they must return a signed form.
• Begin deductions from the next available pay period.
• Forward the member’s QAPA election form and the “Info for LGPS Fund” results to pensions@wypf.org.uk.

Payment Options

• Regular payments: Must run for at least one year and exceed £10 per month.
• Lump sum: Must be paid in a single instalment.

Calculation of Lost Pension

• Main section: 1/49th of pensionable pay lost.
• 50/50 section: 1/98th of pensionable pay lost.

Existing Contracts

• APC/SCAPC contracts (post 31 March 2026) remain payable unless ended.
• AVC/SCAVC contracts (post 31 March 2014) may continue.

Child Related Leave

During child related leave, members pay contributions on the pay they receive.

Employers must report Assumed Pensionable Pay (APP) on monthly returns, and employer contributions are based on APP.

Duration of APP Application

Maternity/Adoption: Up to 52 weeks, including unpaid periods starting after 1 April 2026.

• Paternity: Up to 2 weeks.
• Shared Parental Leave: Up to 50 weeks.

Existing Contracts

APC/SCAPC and AVC/SCAVC contracts (post 31 March 2014) remain payable unless ended.

Bereaved Partner’s Paternity Leave

From 6 April 2026, bereaved partners may take up to 52 weeks of paternity leave if the child’s primary carer dies within one year of birth or adoption. This includes same sex partners and APP applies throughout the entire period, whether paid or unpaid.

Strike Absence

Employers must report all strike absences using the record maintenance web form on the Employer Portal.

Buying Back Lost Pension

Members may buy back lost pension at full cost:

• Main section: 1/49th of lost pay
• 50/50 section: 1/98th of lost pay

There is no time limit for members to elect to buy back strike related lost pension.

Employer Responsibilities

• Provide the member with the lost pay figure using the absence form.
• The member uses the LGPS2014 modeller to calculate the cost.
• If they proceed, they return the application form and signed absence form.
• Begin deductions or collect the lump sum.
• Complete the back of the absence form and send it with the application to the Fund.

Payment Options

• Regular APC payments must exceed £10 per month or £2.50 per week.
• Lump sums must be paid in a single instalment.

Reserve Forces Service Leave (RFSL)

During RFSL:

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) deducts employee contributions from reservist pay.
• Employers must calculate APP and notify both the reservist and the MoD of:
  • APP
  • Employee and employer contribution rates

If the employer pays any salary during RFSL, it is non-pensionable.

Existing APC/SCAPC/AVC/SCAVC contracts (post 31 March 2014) remain payable. Employers must provide contract details for MoD deductions.

Jury Service

If the employer does not pay the member during jury service:

• Treat the period as authorised unpaid absence.
• If fewer than 15 days, it remains pensionable.
• Include lost pay in the Pay Main or 50/50 column.
• Continue reduced contributions if the member was in 50/50 before the absence.
• Employer contributions remain payable.

For absences of 15 days or more, offer the member the option to buy back lost pension via QAPA.

Sickness or Injury

Members pay contributions on the pensionable pay they receive during sickness or injury.

Reduced or No Pay

• APC/SCAPC contributions (post 31 March 2014) remain payable unless ended.
• During no pay, APC/SCAPC contributions are deemed paid.
• AVC/SCAVC contributions remain payable unless ended by the member (or employer for SCAVC).

To get the latest version of the QAPA calculator spreadsheet go to https://www.lgpsregs.org/employer-resources/guidesetc.php

The spreadsheet can only be used to work out the cost of buying back pension 'lost' if the arrangement is a Qualifying Additional Pension Arrangement (QAPA). An arrangement is a QAPA if:

• an LGPS member in England or Wales took a continuous period of authorised unpaid leave of more than 14 days that started after 31 March 2026, and
• the member elects to pay contributions to buy back the pension 'lost' in that unpaid period within a year of returning to work, or within a longer period allowed by the employer. The election must be made while the member is in the same employment they were in when they took the unpaid leave.

You must reassess your members’ pay bands and contribution rates every year, in the pay period 1 April falls in.

You can review a member’s pay band and rate at any time if they have a material change in pay i.e. promotion or pay award.

If you base any of your members’ contribution rates on estimated pay figures, you may wish to regularly review their actual pensionable pay to make sure you are still using the correct rate.

When you assess or review pay bands and contribution rates, ignore reduced pensionable pay when it’s because of:

• sickness
• child related leave
• RFSL, or
• other absences.

Whenever you decide to change a band to which a member is allocated, you must as soon as is reasonably practicable notify the member of the new contribution rate that is payable and the date from which it is to be applied.

It’s your decision how you notify the member i.e. on their pay slip, but the notification must contain a statement giving the address from which further information about the decision may be obtained and you must tell the member of the right to appeal to an adjudicator (i.e. the person you have appointed to consider appeals) against the decision.

The member must do this within six months of being notified of the initial decision or longer if the adjudicator allows. You must give the member the job title and address of the adjudicator and you must also tell the member that if they are unhappy with the adjudicator’s decision they have the right to ask the pension fund within six months of the adjudicator’s decision to undertake a further review of the decision.

Use the monthly return to tell us when members move between the main section and the 50/50 section. You should tell us within six weeks of the date they choose to move.

Tell us when a member moves to or from the 50/50 section by completing a Record maintenance Form (RM form) and inputting the appropriate date in the “Date member moved” field. (You can find the RM form on the Employer Portal). Please see factsheet The two sections for instructions on how to complete the RM form.

For members in the 50/50 section deduct the contributions at half the normal rate. They’ll build up half the regular pension for those contributions.

The 50/50 option isn’t intended to replace long-term membership of the main section. Membership of the 50/50 section stops from the start of the pay period following your automatic re-enrolment date and you should move 50/50 members back to the main section, no matter what category of worker they are for the purposes of automatic enrolment.

However, members who get moved to the main section can choose to go straight back into the 50/50 section, and if they do this before you close your payroll, they can in effect have continuous 50/50 membership.

Note - employer contributions for the 50/50 section: while a member is in the 50/50 section you continue to pay the full employer contribution. Only the member pays half contributions.

Members can move between the main and 50/50 sections as often as they like but each change can only take effect from the next available pay period.

Note - concurrent employments for the 50/50 section: for concurrent employments, members can move between sections for any or all of their jobs.

You must tell members who move to the 50/50 section how the move will affect their pension benefits.

Always start new members in the main section. Once an employee is a member of the scheme they can choose to move to the 50/50 section.

You must move a 50/50 member who goes onto no pay because of sickness or injury back into the main section from the start of the next pay period if they are still on nil pay at that time.

Leave of absence and 50/50

If a member moves to the 50/50 section

• an existing APC at full cost to the member must stop unless it’s to buy lost pension for a period of strike
• an SCAPC contract must stop unless it’s to buy lost pension for a period of authorised unpaid leave of absence or a period of unpaid additional maternity, paternity or adoption leave in which case it continues, unless the member ends the contract.

Members pay the full rate on their additional contributions when they move to the 50/50 section and have

• an APC to buy lost pension for a period of strike, or
• an SCAPC to buy lost pension for authorised unpaid leave of absence or unpaid additional maternity, paternity or adoption leave.

Members in the 50/50 section can’t start paying an APC contract that’s at full cost to them unless it’s to buy lost pension for a period of strike.

They can only start paying an SCAPC contract if it’s to buy lost pension for authorised unpaid leave of absence or unpaid additional maternity, paternity or adoption leave, but they can start paying an AVC or SCAVC contract.

When members move back to the main section their existing APC contracts must continue. SCAPC contracts continue too, unless the member ends them. AVC or SCAVC contracts continue unless the member ends them.

Members in the main section can start paying

• an APC contract at full cost to them
• an SCAPC contract, and
• an AVC or SCAVC contract

APCs

Members can buy extra pension up to a maximum of £9,054 (2026/7) with an additional pension contribution, or APC, contract with or without a contribution from you. They can make a one-off payment, or pay regular extra contributions. How much it costs, and it’s a cash amount not a percentage of pay, depends on their age and how much they want to buy.

You can meet some or all of this cost if you want to.

Additional pension

You can award active members additional annual pension of up to £9,054 (less any additional annual pension you have already contributed towards or are contributing towards under an SCAPC). The maximum of £9,054 will increase each April in line with pensions increase. You can also award this to members who left because of redundancy or business efficiency, within six months of them leaving.

To award additional pension, you make a one-off contribution, which is based on the member’s age and the amount you buy.

AVCs

Members can pay additional voluntary contributions, or AVCs, themselves, or you can share the cost with them in a shared cost AVC, or SCAVC. The contributions will be either a cash amount or a percentage of pensionable pay. The split between employee and employer additional contributions for an SCAVC can be any proportion you agree but you can’t pay the full cost.

If a member changes their hours, tell us about it on the monthly return.

We’ll send a PT Hour mismatch report to the employer portal and ask you to tell us the date of the change within 10 working days. Use the Record Maintenance form on the employer portal to tell us the date the hours changed or complete the PT Hour mismatch report with the date of change and send it back to us via a secure e-mail.

If they change to no fixed pattern of employment or they’re a casual member, tell us what hours they worked in the year up to 31 March.

If a member changes their name, payroll number, job title or address, tell us about it on the monthly return or you can complete the Record Maintenance form on the employer portal.

From 1 April 2008, members who have their pay cut, or in certain circumstances restricted, have 10 years to choose the best average of any consecutive three years in their last 13 years of membership. This applies even for pay cuts or restrictions after 31 March 2014.

All 13 year periods end on 31 March.

Tell us about this on the reduction in pay notification form ripnot. This is only for members with membership before 1 April 2014.

An eligible jobholder, who can join the scheme but hasn’t joined, automatically becomes a member of the main section on the automatic enrolment date or automatic re-enrolment date for that employment.

These types of member can join the 50/50 section once they have been auto enrolled, and if they do it before you close your first payroll they can in effect join the 50/50 section from the start.

Tell us about these types of new members in the usual way.

When you set the contribution rate for auto-enrolled members, ignore reduced pensionable pay when it’s because of

• sickness
• child related leave
• RFSL, or
• other absences.

Once you have determined the contribution rate you must notify the member of the contribution rate to be deducted from their pensionable pay and the date from which the rate is payable.

It is your decision how you notify the member i.e. on their pay slip, but the notification must contain a statement giving the address from which further information about the decision may be obtained and you must tell the member of the right to appeal to an adjudicator (i.e. the person you have appointed to consider appeals) against the decision.

The member must do this within six months of being notified of the initial decision or longer if the adjudicator allows. You must give the member the job title and address of the adjudicator and you must also tell the member that if they are unhappy with the adjudicator’s decision they have the right to ask the pension fund within six months of the adjudicator’s decision to undertake a further review of the decision.