The Fire Brigades Union has said it will encourage and assist its members in taking claims before an employment tribunal to protect their pension benefits, while it continues to negotiate with the Home Office for a permanent solution.
The issue affects retained firefighters — those who do not work full-time at a fire station but are paid to spend periods of time on call — who joined the fire and rescue service before April 2006, and who transitioned from retained to full-time employment.
Concerns about the pension status of retained firefighters date back to 2006, when a “special status” category was created to enable retained firefighters to joint the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme.
The EU Part-Time Workers Directive, passed in that year, stipulated that they should be entitled to benefits broadly similar to those in the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme.
The FBU therefore intends to take steps to protect the position of members in relation to this potential disadvantage arising out of the differences between the pension schemes, pending further negotiations on the issue
An options exercise was supposed to be carried out in 2014 to allow existing and former retained firefighters to join the NFPS and pay “appropriate contributions”, but a bulletin in July this year from the Local Government Association said some fire and rescue authorities had failed to conduct this exercise properly. A second options exercise is expected in 2023.
The second options exercise formed part of a...
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