Job Sharing and effect on service

[Portairne]

Brendan,
Great threads and website, thank you.
I am a primary school teacher since 1994. I am currently job sharing with this been my 4th year. I have no other break in service. I am currently 47 years of age and also have an AVC pot of approx. 90K. I want to retire with full pension entitlements and want to make sure I am set up as such.
How do i calculate my service shortfall due to the job sharing?
Also should I use my AVC to buy notional service now or wait until just before retirement?
Finally would it be wise to pay into notional service now instead of AVC going forward?

I plan to job share for another 2 years at least.

Hope I am not going over old ground here as I am new to the site.

Really appreciate any info here.

 

[muinteoir]

I've heard that they will calculate the shortfall for you if you ring the department. It is probably a good time to ring them as they will have finished dealing with those retiring during the summer. There should be two options, I think, pay off a lump sum or pay it over the rest of your working life.

It's not a break in service by the way so it won't affect your pension in the way a break in service would.

 

[Portairne]

if I job share for a total of 6 years which would mean I am short 3 years when it comes to calculating pensionable service, am i correct in saying I can teach for an additional 3 years beyond the 40 years to achieve the max benefits with regards my pension.

 

[Early Riser]

if I job share for a total of 6 years which would mean I am short 3 years when it comes to calculating pensionable service, am i correct in saying I can teach for an additional 3 years beyond the 40 years to achieve the max benefits with regards my pension.

Yes, you can make up pensionable service by continuing in post up as far as 70 - to a maximum of 40 years. https://assets.gov.ie/7409/f350799695c945979c672120f9dea552.pdf

How do i calculate my service shortfall due to the job sharing?

It is directly proportional. If you work half-time for 6 years you chalk up 3 years pensionable service. If you work 1/3 time for 6 years you chalk up 2 years.

I am a primary school teacher since 1994

This suggests you are on modified PRSI (B or D)? If so, and you have full pensionable service (either by working up the 40 pensionable years or by purchasing notional service), you have less room for AVC funding than a Class A PRSI person. Just be careful you do not overfund. Also, are you likely to be paying tax at the top rate on your full 40 year pension? If so, the tax advantage of AVC funding now is more marginal. The AVC would be great if you are aiming for retirement with less than full service.

 

[dubman1]

Early Riser,

I have found your posts on this topic very informative and useful .Maybe you can confirm or correct the following; Regards.

My understanding here is that if you work half-time for 6 years you chalk up 3 years pensionable service if you are post 1995 and pre 2004 entry for that portion of a supplementary pension you may receive.
However ,given that pension payments are still made over a 52 week period when working half-time the full number of pension contributions for the State Contributory Pension are made .Therefore when the State Contributory Pension is paid out it will in effect be more than the Supplementary Pension in this case.
This is because each Government Department will only pay out on the Supplementary Pension for the actual time worked in that Department whereas the State Contributory Pension payout is dependent only on the number of contributions averaged yearly for the duration of working life.

 

[Early Riser]

This is because each Government Department will only pay out on the Supplementary Pension for the actual time worked in that Department whereas the State Contributory Pension payout is dependent only on the number of contributions averaged yearly for the duration of working life.

It is correct that any eligibility for Supplementary Pension will be calculated with reference to pensionable service. So 6 years half-time service would equal 3 years pensionable service for this purpose. The Department make no reference to your actual PRSI record when calculating what Supplementary you may qualify for - but they do check that you have have applied for any SW payment you may be entitled to and what level it has been awarded at. Any payment will be deducted from the Supplementary estimate.

Parallel to this, the Social Welfare department make no reference to whether you were working part-time or full time - only to your actual PRSI record. Your application is based only on this record and the rules in place for the relevant SW benefit at that time. For example, a person may have only 10 years service in the public service on retirement and any Supplementary eligibility will be referenced to this only. But they may also have an additional 25 years record from the private sector. Any SW entitlement will be based on the total 35 year record.

I do not know whether someone working half-time gets paid 52 weeks PRSI contributions per year. I believe that this is situation-specific and is determined by the actual part-time work pattern pertaining to the individual employee. Have a look at the rules here :

Part-time work and social insurance (PRSI)

This page explains how part-time work can affect your PRSI contributions.

www.citizensinformation.ie