Absences

Employee pension contribution

LGPS benefits

If your pay drops due to sickness, your LGPS benefits will be based on your pay in the three months or 12 weeks before your pay dropped.
If you are not being paid and you are in the 50/50 section of the scheme, your employer will move you back into the main section.

You may receive your pension early if you have to leave your job because of ill health. For details see: Thinking of ill health retirement?

You can continue to build up pension membership as usual, whilst on maternity or adoption leave. You pay the normal contribution rate on whatever pay you receive. There is no effect on your pension, even if due to short service you are not entitled to any contractual or statutory maternity pay.

You must pay pension contributions on pay you receive, including occupational and statutory maternity or adoption pay.

If you are entitled to 12 weeks' half pay and elect to defer its receipt until you return to work, you will pay pension contributions on it.

Your pension will build up as normal – if your pay drops or you don't receive any pay, the pension you build up will be based on your pay in the three months or 12 weeks before the start of the absence.

If you are in the 50/50 section of the scheme at this time, your employer must move you back to the main section of the scheme.

Employee pension contribution

You will pay contributions on any pay you receive including statutory and occupational pay.
You will not pay contributions if you don't receive any pay. If you are in the 50/50 section of the scheme at this time, your employer must move you back to the main section of the scheme

LGPS benefits

Based on your pay in the three months or 12 weeks before the start of the absence.

Paid

You must pay pension contributions on pay you receive, including occupational and statutory maternity or adoption pay. If you pay contributions, your pension will build up in the same way as it does during ordinary maternity or adoption leave.

Unpaid

You will not pay pension contributions or build up any pension if you do not receive any pay.

If you want to build up pension in respect of this period, you are entitled to take out a shared cost additional pension contributions contract (APCs). You would pay 1/3 of the cost of APCs and your employer would pay 2/3.

You must notify your employer of your decision within 30 days of returning to work, unless they have a policy to allow longer.

You will not be entitled to take out a shared cost APC contract if you miss this deadline, but may start an APC contract and pay the entire cost yourself.

Employee pension contribution

You will pay contributions on any pay you receive including statutory and occupational pay
You will not pay contributions if you are not receiving any pay, and you will not build up any pension in this time

LGPS benefits

If you pay contributions, you will build up pension based on your pay in the three months or 12 weeks before your ordinary maternity or adoption leave began
You will not build up pension if you do not pay contributions
You and your employer can take out a shared cost APC within 30 days (or longer if your employer allows), of returning to work if you would like to make up the pension

You will continue to pay pension contributions on any pay you receive. If your pay is reduced or you are not being paid, your pension will still build up as normal and will be based on your pay in the three months or 12 weeks before the paternity leave began.

If you are in the 50/50 section of the scheme and are on ordinary paternity leave, but not receiving any pay, your employer must move you back to the main section of the scheme.

If you are paying additional contributions, you should continue to do so during your paternity leave. This may include:

Additional Pension Contributions (APCs)
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
older contracts – added years or ARCs

Employee pension contribution

Contributions will be taken from any pay you receive
You will not pay contributions if you don't receive any pay. If you are in the 50/50 section of the scheme at this time, your employer must move you back to the main section of the scheme

LGPS benefits

Pension will be based on your pay in the three months or 12 weeks before the start of the absence, even if you are not being paid.

Employee pension contribution

You will pay contributions on any pay you receive including statutory and occupational pay
You will not pay contributions if you are not receiving any pay, and you will not build up any pension in this time

LGPS benefits

If you pay contributions, you will build up pension based on your pay in the three months or 12 weeks before your ordinary paternity leave began
You will not build up pension if you do not pay contributions
You and your employer can take out a shared cost APC within 30 days (or longer if your employer allows), of returning to work if you would like to make up the pension

If you are absent from work due to strike action for one or more whole days, you will not be paid so you will not pay your normal pension contributions. You will not build up any pension during the absence.

Any additional pension contributions that you are paying should continue. This may include:

Additional Pension Contributions (APCs)
Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs)
older contracts – added years or ARCs

You can pay additional pension contributions (APCs) if you want to build up the pension that you would otherwise have accrued that day. There is no time limit, as long as you continue to work. If the extra contributions that you would make from your pay are quite low, you may be asked to make a one off payment instead.

See the LGPS website for more details of the effect of strike action: Frequently Asked Questions

Full membership of the LGPS will continue to build up throughout any Reserve Forces leave of absence. You will continue to pay contributions based on the pay you were receiving before your leave began; it is not based on the amount you receive from the Ministry of Defence (MOD).

You must work with your employer to inform the MOD of the contributions you need to pay during your absence. The MOD will deduct your contributions from your reservist pay.

If you die, reach retirement age or become incapable of working in your LGPS employment because of ill health whilst on Reserve Forces leave, your benefits and those of any dependants will be paid as if you had remained in your LGPS employment.

Employee pension contribution

The MOD will deduct contributions from your reservist pay – you will need to work with your employer to inform the MOD of the amount you need to pay
Your contributions will be based on your normal pay (not your reservist pay)

LGPS benefits

Full benefits continue to accrue, subject to contributions being paid.

Authorised unpaid leave - less than 15 days starting on or after 1 April 2026

If your employer allows you to take unpaid leave that lasts less than 15 days, your pension will continue to build up in this period. You and your employer both pay the pension contributions that would have been paid if you were at work receiving your normal pay.

This will apply if you are unpaid when you are absent from work because of jury service.

It may also apply if you have bought annual leave from your employer, but this depends on how the scheme to buy extra leave works. If you are buying or thinking about buying extra annual leave, you can check with your employer how your pension will be affected.

Authorised unpaid leave - 15 days or more starting on or after 1 April 2026

If your employer allows you to take unpaid leave that lasts for 15 days or more, the break will not automatically count for pension purposes. This also applies if you were absent from work and unpaid for more than 15 days for jury service. You can choose to pay extra contributions to buy the pension you ‘lost’ in the unpaid period.

If you elect to pay these extra contributions within a year of returning to work, the cost is split between you and your employer. The contributions can be paid by lump sum or regular deductions from your pay. If you take an unpaid break, your employer will be able to tell you the cost and your payment options.

An arrangement to buy pension ‘lost’ in a period of unpaid leave that started 1 April 2026 or later is known as a Qualifying Additional Pension Arrangement or QAPA.

The unpaid leave started 1 April 2026 or later
The unpaid leave lasted for 15 days or more
You elect to pay the extra contributions within a year of returning to work (or a longer period allowed by your employer), and
You are in the same employment you were in when you took the unpaid leave when you elect to pay the extra contributions.
The cost is based on the pension contributions that would have been paid if you were at work and receiving your normal pay.
If the unpaid break lasts less than three years:

You pay member contributions at your normal contribution rate.
Your employer pays the employer contributions.

If the unpaid break lasts more than three years:

Your employer only pays contributions for the first three years.
You can still buy the pension you lost after the first three years but you pay both member and employer contributions yourself.

Unlike pension bought using APC contributions, a QAPA is not reduced if you retire because of redundancy or business efficiency before your Normal Pension Age.

Authorised unpaid leave starting prior to 1 April 2026

If your employer allowed you to take unpaid leave, you did not pay contributions. You and your employer could take out a shared cost additional pension contributions contract (SCAPC) within 30 days (or longer if your employer allowed).

The rules that applied before 1 April 2026 still apply if you took an authorised unpaid break that started before that date. Under those rules, the period does not count for pension purposes unless you elect to pay Additional Pension Contributions (APCs) to buy the pension you ‘lost’ during the absence.

If you make an election to pay APCs to purchase ‘lost’ pension within 30 days of returning to work, the cost will be split between you and your employer.

Authorised unpaid absence due to strike action

If you are away from work with no pay because of strike action, you can buy back the pension ‘lost’. You must meet the full cost yourself, but your employer may choose to contribute in line with their published policy.

For more information on APCs see Increase your pension benefits | Business and economy | Hampshire County Council

Employee pension contribution

If your employer allows you to take unpaid leave, you will not pay contributions.

LGPS benefits

You will not build up any pension during unpaid absence
You and your employer can take out a shared cost APC within 30 days (or longer if your employer allows) of returning to work if you would like to make up the pension