Final Earnings

Pension benefits paid from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority final salary schemes are calculated using your highest twelve months pensionable earnings during the last three years of your service which counts towards your pension.

Pensionable earnings are those parts of your salary on which you pay pension contributions to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority final salary scheme. For example, you do not pay pension contributions on overtime payments and these payment are not included in your pensionable earnings to calculate your pension.

You may receive certain allowances from your employer, which will be considered as pensionable. Any such allowances you receive in the last three years of pension scheme service will be taken into account when assessing your final earnings, but remember it is the best twelve months in the last three years of service which will be used to calculate your pension.

For some members, for the pension based on service before 1 April 1997, we will use 93.5% of their final earnings. Members who are affected in this was are those who were members of the Principal Non Industrial Superannuation scheme between 1 April 1973 (1 October 1978 where the employer is British Nuclear Fuels plc). For service from April 1997 we will use the full value of final earnings to calculate your benefit. See the following example:

Example of calculation of pension benefits for a member who joined the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority pension scheme on 1 April 1978 and retires on 31 March 2017

For those members whose final earnings are based on 100% from 1 April 1997. In practice this means that for the member with pensionable final earnings of £20,000, who joined the pension scheme on 1 April 1978 and retires on 31 March 2017 the pension calculation would be as follows:-

For the period between 1 April 1978 and 31 March 1997

93.5% X £20,000 = £18,700

19 X £18,700 = £4,441.25
80

For the period between 1 April 1997 and 31 March 2017

100% X £20,000 = £20,000

20 X £20,000 = £5,000
80

Therefore the gross pension for this member would be £9,441.25

Your lump sum will normally be three times the pension. However, for some longer serving members there may be a deduction for outstanding family benefit contributions. If you need any further information about family benefit deductions, please contact your Local Pensions Officer or for United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority employees only the Pensions Administration Office, Thurso.

To be sure about your own final earnings details prior to 1 April 1997, you should refer to your annual benefit statement or contact your Pensions Administrator.