Local Government Pension Scheme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002

Re-employed and rejoining deferred members

34.—(1) Where a deferred member becomes an active member again before becoming entitled to the immediate payment of retirement benefits in respect of his former membership, he may elect to have his former membership aggregated with his membership on or after the date he becomes an active member again.

(2) But an election may only be made by a Class B member as respects former Class B membership or Class C membership and an election may only be made by a Class C member as respects former Class C membership.

(3) Where a member elects under paragraph (1) –

(a) he ceases to be entitled to rights under the Scheme in respect of his former membership (except in so far as he is entitled by virtue of having become an active member again to rights in respect of the aggregated total membership); and

(b) he ceases to count as a deferred member for these Regulations as respects his former membership (unless he becomes a deferred member again after ceasing to be an active member).

(4) Where an election under paragraph (1) is made by a member who has ceased to be an active member more than once, the election may be made as respects his total membership at each of the times he so ceased or only as respects such of those periods of membership as are specified in the election.

(5) Where a member who may elect under paragraph (1) does not do so or does not elect as respects all periods of his membership –

(a) in applying regulations 19(2) and (3), 30(2), 31 and 33(4) as respects any later membership, his total membership excludes unaggregated periods;

(b) for the purpose only of calculating whether the member has the necessary total membership –

(i) referred to in regulation 18 (1) (a) to be entitled to benefits under this Chapter,

(ii) referred to in regulation 29 (2) (a) to be entitled to an ill-health grant, or

(iii) referred to in regulation 30 (1),

the unaggregated periods of membership shall be taken into account; and

(c) as respects each unaggregated period of his former membership –

(i) paragraph (3) does not apply,

(ii) he shall continue to be treated as a deferred member or, as the case may be, as a pensioner member (and not as an active member), and

(iii) he shall be entitled to the same rights as if he were not also an active member (but subject to regulation 37 and, in the case of a pensioner member, to regulation 31).

(6) For this regulation a period of membership is an unaggregated period if –

(a) no previous election has been made under this regulation for its aggregation; and

(b) in the case of a period as respects which the member was entitled to elect under regulation D12(1)(c) of the 2000 Regulations (elections to remain entitled to preserved benefits) or any previous corresponding provision of the Scheme, such an election was made.

(7) An election under paragraph (1) must be made by notice in writing to the Committee.

(8) References in this regulation to former membership include all membership which the member was entitled to count as total membership immediately before he ceased his former active membership.

(9) Where a person ceases to be an active member in one employment and immediately becomes an active member in another employment, for paragraph (1) of this regulation he shall be treated as if he were a deferred member as respects the first employment, despite never having ceased to be an active member of the Scheme.

(10) In the case of a member who first becomes a member on or after 2nd April 2001 any period of membership in the employment of a non-associated admission body (as defined in regulation 4(16)(c)) shall not be aggregated with any other periods of membership for the purpose of calculating his retirement grant.