Retirement
The University no longer has a fixed retirement age, therefore you will need to decide when you wish to retire and give your line manager your notice in writing. You must give at least your contractual notice, however, if let us know sooner you may be entitled to some pre-retirement leave.
Notice periods
| Staff Group | Notice you are required to give to the University |
|
Support staff, grades 1 - 5 |
Four weeks |
| All other staff | Three calendar months |
More information can be found in:
Deciding when to retire
To help you to consider when the best time to retire is for you, the following FAQs explain the different choices available and how each of these will affect your State and University pension benefits
Further sources of information:
Pre-retirement course
The University provides a pre- retirement course which focuses on financial information, tax, wills, investments and pensions to help you to plan for your retirement.
If you are retiring at age 55 or over you may take up to a maximum of two days time away from your work to:
- attend the pre-retirement course provided by the University (unless you have previously attended a similar course within two years of the retirement date);
- attend appointments with the University Pensions Office.
These two days can only be used for this purpose and cannot be taken as leave. All other appointments, courses, workshops, etc. in preparation for retirement must be taken out of any pre-retirement leave allowance (i.e. the maximum six days below) or from your normal annual leave entitlement.
To book a place, discuss this with your line manager:
Pre-retirement leave
If you are retiring at age 55 or over you may be eligible for pre-retirement leave.
This is intended to support staff in making the transition from work to retirement, therefore it is only available to staff who confirm in writing that they are retiring. It is not available to any member of staff who is:
- going to draw their pension and return to a different role in the University;
- taking flexible retirement (i.e. drawing some earned pension whilst continuing to work for the University).
Allowance and eligibility
The maximum amount of pre-retirement leave is 6 days. This is based on one day for each two years of continuous service (at the retirement date) up to a maximum of 6 days.
However, this is earned at the rate of one day (7 hours) for each complete month of notice given in writing. This will be pro rata for part-time staff, therefore if you work 0.5FTE you will earn 3.5 hours.
Therefore to be given the maximum 6 days, you must have at least 12 years continuous service and will need to give 6 months written notice.
Pre-retirement leave is intended to be taken as it is earned (i.e. one day each month), therefore it:
- cannot be taken in one block;
- cannot be used to bring forward the date of retirement;
- cannot be exchanged for payment (i.e. will not be paid in lieu if it has not been taken before the leaving date).
To apply
To apply for pre-retirement leave you must complete an application form and submit this with your written notice to your line manager. Your line manager will forward this to People & OD Operations. Once approved, the dates you will take your pre-retirement leave must be agreed in advance with your line manager.