Members who plan to retire in the next five years should consider making up contributions so their pensions are not reduced as a result of our strike. You remain a Plan Member, providing you have not terminated employment during the strike period and you return to work when it ended. Any strike payments received during the work stoppage are not considered Pensionable Earnings, and no contributions to the Plan can be made on those earnings.
Because Plan Members made pension contributions for at least one day during March, they will receive credit for Pensionable Service for all of March. However, the Pensionable Earnings credited to the Member during March will only reflect the actual earnings during the month. Therefore, members who expect to be retiring within the next five years may want to consider buying back the earnings lost during the strike period, in order to enhance their earnings calculation and their resulting pension benefit.
Linked files:
Full details in this document (Word, 36K). An Excel calculator for the buy back amount.