NHS Pension Scheme while you are off sick

Your pension contributions follow your pay while you are off sick. On full pay nothing changes. On reduced pay or SSP only, you pay on what you actually receive, while your employer keeps paying on your normal pay. On nil pay, contributions stop and the days show on your pension record as disallowed. These rules come from NHSBSA, which runs the scheme, and they apply to existing members of the NHS Pension Scheme (see how the scheme works).

Full pay

If you are on full sick pay, employee and employer contributions continue as normal, according to NHSBSA’s sick leave FAQ. How long full pay lasts depends on your service, as set out in our NHS sick pay guide.

Reduced pay, SSP only and nil pay

NHSBSA’s FAQ separates the situations:

Your sick pay	Your contributions	Employer contributions
Reduced or suspended pay, with or without SSP	On your actual reduced pay	On your normal unreduced pay
SSP only	On the SSP you receive	On your normal unreduced pay
No pay	Stop	Stop

There is one exception for members with added years. In both the reduced pay and SSP-only cases, they pay on their normal salary rate instead of on the lower amount they receive.

At nil pay, all contributions stop. The period appears on your pension record as disallowed days. If you are likely to reach nil pay, our guide to what happens when NHS sick pay runs out covers the order of events and what to ask HR.

Special Class members have an extra protection. NHSBSA says Special Class status is kept during unpaid sick leave or nil sick pay. A member who reaches 55 while on unpaid sick leave, with employment not yet ended, can claim their pension without reduction. This applies to Special Class members only.

Your contribution rate when pay drops

NHSBSA’s page on reduced pay scenarios uses half pay sick leave as its example. It says the member’s contribution rate should be reassessed to reflect the reduction in actual pensionable pay received. The rate depends on which pay tier you fall into, so a large drop in pay can put you in a lower tier. The tiers are in our NHS Pension Scheme guide.

That page did not cover nil pay, and we have not found it set out beyond the FAQ above. If your payslip rate does not look right after your pay changes, ask your payroll team how it was reassessed. Comparing the pension line on a payslip before and after your pay dropped is the quickest check, and payroll can explain any difference you cannot account for from the table above.

You cannot join while on sick leave

NHSBSA’s FAQ says you cannot join the NHS Pension Scheme while you are on sick leave. If you have just started a job, or are about to be enrolled, and you go off sick, ask your employer or NHSBSA how that affects your membership, and ask for the answer in writing so you have it on record. We do not have more detail than that sentence.

Ill-health retirement tiers

If you cannot go back to NHS work, the scheme has two ill-health retirement tiers, covered in more detail in our ill-health retirement guide. NHSBSA’s ill health FAQ gives these conditions:

• Tier 1 is payable if your NHS employment ends due to ill health, you have at least 2 years’ membership, and it is determined that you cannot do your NHS job. It is paid without the early-payment reduction and without enhancements.
• Tier 2 has the same requirements and one more: you must be permanently incapable of engaging in regular employment of like duration to your NHS employment. Deferred members cannot get Tier 2.

For how to apply and what evidence is needed, see the ill-health retirement guide above or ask NHSBSA directly, since this page only gives the conditions.

What we could not confirm

We could not find an NHSBSA page saying whether members can pay extra to cover periods of reduced or nil pay, in other words buying back disallowed days. Ask NHSBSA or your employer’s pensions team, and get the answer in writing if you are planning around it.

The same goes for how the rules apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, which run their own schemes. This guide follows NHSBSA, so read your own scheme’s pages if you work there.