The Health and Social Care Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

CHAPTER 1 Joining and leaving

Joining and leaving the scheme

15.—(1) Each person who is eligible to join this scheme pursuant to regulation 18 will be included in the scheme—

(a) automatically on commencing HSC employment;

(b) subject to regulation 16, where the person has previously opted out of this scheme, on the date determined under paragraph 2 of Schedule 4, where that paragraph applies;

(c) subject to regulation 16, where the person has previously opted out of this scheme and is a person to whom section 3 or 5 of the 2008 Act(1) applies—

(i) on that person’s automatic enrolment date, or

(ii) on that person’s automatic re-enrolment date, except where the notice referred to in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 was given within the 12 months immediately preceding that date.

(2) A person who is included in this scheme may opt out at any time in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 4.

(3) In this Chapter—

(a) “the 2008 Act” is the Pensions (No.2) Act (Northern Ireland) 2008;

(b) “the 2010 Regulations” means the Occupational and Personal Pension Schemes (Automatic Enrolment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010(2).

(4) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a locum practitioner.

(5) A locum practitioner who wishes to join this scheme must make an application to the scheme manager in such form as the scheme manager requires.

(6) The application must not relate to a period of engagement which ended more than 10 weeks before the date of the application.

(7) If the scheme manager accepts an application under paragraph (5) the locum practitioner’s membership of this scheme takes effect on the date specified by the scheme manager.

Re-joining the scheme

16.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person who has opted out of this scheme in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 may re-join this scheme pursuant to paragraph 2 of that Schedule.

(2) A person may not re-join this scheme during any period of absence from work for any reason.

Automatic enrolment legislation

17.—(1) Regulations 15 and 16 do not apply to a person to whom sections 3, 5 or 8 of the 2008 Act and regulations 9 or 15 of the 2010 Regulations(3) applies (that is, a person who is subject to automatic enrolment or re-enrolment in this scheme as a qualifying scheme who does not wish to participate in it).

(2) Paragraph (1) does not affect the rights of such a person who subsequently joins or re-joins this scheme in circumstances where those provisions of the 2008 Act and 2010 Regulations do not apply.

(1)

2008 c.13 (N.I.); Section 3 was amended by the Pensions Act (Northern Ireland) 2012 (2012 c.3 (N.I.)); Section 5 was amended by that Act sections 5(2) to (4), 6(3) and (4) and 7(3) and regulation 2(1) of the Automatic Enrolment (Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band) Order (Northern Ireland) 2014 (S.R. 2014 No.81)

(2)

S.R. 2010 No.122 as amended by S.R. 2012 Nos.232, 237, 238, 390 and S.R. 2013 Nos.221 and 243 and S.R. 2014 No.89

(3)

Regulation 9 was amended by S.R. 2012 No.232 regulation 2(6)