Managers Guidance

Most staff can retire after age 55, although some SAUL staff retain the right to retire after age 50. Any staff who retire before age 66 (or 60 for some – and there may be a cost to Imperial, and therefore your department, if they do) will have their pension reduced accordingly. Staff do not need your permission to retire; however, they are required to serve at least their contractual notice period. Ideally, all staff should give three months' notice of their intention to retire.

Staff may also wish to attend a Pre-Retirement workshop offered by Imperial before they retire. This usually lasts three hours.

Staff retiring fully will need to complete a leaver form and indicate the reason for leaving is 'retirement'. This automatically starts the process with the People Function Staff Hub and the Payroll & Pensions Team, who will let the relevant pension scheme know, liaise with your staff member, and collect the required information.

If your member of staff is in USS or the NHS pension scheme, they have the option of requesting flexible retirement. SAUL does not currently offer a flexible retirement arrangement.

Flexible retirement allows a member of staff to begin receiving some of their pension already earned and at the same time to continue to work, but in a reduced capacity, either fewer working hours or a salary reduction; see table below: 

Flexible retirement requires departmental consent and any staff requesting will send you a Flexible retirement form which they will also send to the Head of Department and Departmental Operations Manager.

The request must set out the date they would like reduced working to start and the hours they wish to work after accessing some pension.

You will need to review the proposal and decide whether the requested work pattern will meet your department's operational needs. You can refuse a request or suggest an alternative work pattern that does work.

If a flexible retirement request is approved, it must be agreed to as part of a package that includes a final retirement, normally within three years but exceptionally up to five years. This is to consider the need for succession planning and resource planning and ensure that the needs of key stakeholders and operational requirements are met. Any agreement to retirements beyond three years must have the approval of the Faculty Dean or Director of Support Services, along with the Chief People Officer.

You will need to complete a Contractual change form, placing the individual on a three-year fixed-term contract, after which full retirement will be taken. This is to consider succession planning, resource planning, and ensuring that the needs of key stakeholders and operational requirements are met. All forms need to be sent to the People Function  Staff Hub for processing.

Once approved, the arrangement will constitute a formal agreement between the member of staff and Imperial to vary their contract terms and conditions and for their final retirement to take place on or before the specified date. If they decide to leave before the specified date, their normal contractual notice will continue to apply. Full retirement will therefore commence within three years of the start of their flexible retirement period. This excludes any further flexes they may do, and the final retirement date stays the same.

If you agree to the request, the Partial/Flexible Retirement Application Form must be submitted to the People Function Staff Hub as soon as possible. Flexible retirement may take place three months after the application has been approved, and it cannot be processed if the flexible retirement date is less than two months away.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to agree to Partial Retirement. This allows a member of staff to draw all their accrued pension and return to work at Imperial after a break in service on a new contract of employment. There are restrictions on duration and working hours, which are set out below:

• Minimum break in service is one full calendar month, i.e. the whole of January (part-months don't count)
• Maximum hours allowed on return to work: 50% Full Time Equivalent
• Maximum contract length of three years
• New contract of employment is pensionable

A Partial Retirement request requires your consent. The request will be emailed to you, the Head of Department, and the Director of Operations for your consideration.

You will need to review the proposal and decide whether the request will meet the operational needs of your department. You can refuse a request or suggest an alternative that does work.

If you agree to the request, you will need to send the Partial Retirement Form to pensions@imperial.ac.uk along with a completed online leavers form (via the Staff Hub Portal) for the member of staff. The People Function will write to the member of staff and confirm the process. Retirement cannot take place until three months after the request has been approved. Importantly, the individual may not return to work until their pension has been processed and paid.

To ensure consistent application of the retirement framework, there will not be local departmental discretion to extend employment beyond the parameters outlined above. However, discretion can be applied to the duration of re-employment and the final retirement date up to an absolute maximum of five years. The Faculty Deans and Directors of Support Services, in conjunction with their People Partner, will review any requests for application of discretion to the policy using the following criteria:

• Commitment to teaching a particular programme
• Work on a specific project/research grant that requires a longer period than five years
• Strategic role that requires specialist recruitment
• Supporting role during departmental transformation or restructure
• Business continuity

When considering whether you can accommodate the request, it's a good idea to think about the following:

• Economic factors
• Business needs
• Capacity to reorganise work amongst existing staff
• Impact on quality
• Impact on performance
• Ability to recruit additional staff
• Planned structural changes
• Succession planning
• Allocation of space

A guidance document has been formulated to help you consider applications for flexible and/or partial retirement requests: Flexible and Partial Retirement Guidance for Managers.

If you have considered a request but cannot accommodate it, you must let the member of staff know as soon as possible and give the reason for the refusal. Staff cannot appeal the decision and may not apply for partial or flexible retirement again until one year has passed. 

Imperial regularly runs Pre-Retirement workshops to help staff manage the transition from work to retirement.

Staff are actively encouraged to attend. Information can be found on the workshop web pages.