EJRA implementation: Practical guidance

1. Identifying existing staff coming up to the EJRA

Divisions and departments need to identify when existing members of academic and academic-related staff are due to reach their retirement date.  This needs to be done at least two years before the retirement date.  Transition arrangements are in place for those due to retire within the first two years of the adoption of the EJRA.

The retirement date could be either:

  • the EJRA i.e. the 30 September before the 68th birthday, or
  • an individual retirement date i.e. the date agreed, usually as an extension beyond the Default Retirement Age, under the Personnel Committee’s procedures which applied until 30 September 2011.  

EJRA dates

The table below is provided as a guide to the timelines for the first few years of the EJRA.  Note the use of the 65th birthday as the trigger for the reminder letters – it may be easier to use this to run reports than to work back from the 30 September preceding the 68th birthday.

65th birthday falls between

Reminder letter sent before

Extension request to be submitted by

EJRA date

Academics

Academic-related

1.10.12 – 30.9.13

30 Sep 2013

30 Mar 2014

30 Dec 2014

30 Sep 2015

1.10.13 – 30.9.14

30 Sep 2014

30 Mar 2015

30 Dec 2015

30 Sep 2016

Individual retirement dates

 In addition, departments will need to identify individually agreed retirement dates for those staff who, for example, have been given extensions beyond the old Default Retirement Age.  Where this retirement date is on or past the EJRA date for that employee, it is their individual date which takes precedence.  In these cases reminder letters should be sent two years before their individual retirement date, or at the earliest opportunity if that date falls before 1 October 2013.

Special cases

 You may also wish to identify posts which you believe will need a particularly long lead time to fill, were the current incumbent to retire.  In these cases you might wish to send out the EJRA reminder letter in advance of the usual deadline.

Academic staff

 Academic staff include:

  • professors, readers, university lecturers, CUF lecturers, ULNTFs and faculty lecturers and clinical academics
  • language tutors and others on academic contracts below grade 6

Academic-related staff

 Academic-related staff include:

  • all other staff on grades 6 to 10, ALC6 and RSIV, and clinical research grades

Employees who were assimilated to academic-related grades, while retaining elements of support staff contractual terms (so-called ‘hybrid’ contracts), are treated as support staff for the purpose of retirement. If in doubt advice should be sought from the appropriate HR Business Partner.

Prospective staff members

The EJRA policy and procedure applies to staff who are to be offered academic or academic-related appointments, adapted as necessary to fit the circumstances of the case. The EJRA procedure should be followed before any offer of employment is confirmed to those who are over the EJRA. If a prospective member of staff is seeking an individually agreed retirement date beyond the EJRA, approval must be sought from the EJRA panel before this can be agreed. In both instances, the panel will apply the same criteria as for existing staff.

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2. Sending out EJRA reminder letters

 Retirement date before 1 October 2013

 If the retirement date falls before 1 October 2013, transition arrangements apply during the initial implementation of the EJRA.

  • divisions and departments cannot give two years notice of the retirement date
  • the timetable for discussion of, and a decision on, any request for an extension of employment will have to be determined on a case-by-case basis

In these transition cases divisions and departments should use the following model letters:

ML3 (27kb)  EJRA reminder for academic staff who reach EJRA before 1 October 2013

ML4 (26kb)  EJRA reminder for academic-related staff who reach EJRA before 1 October 2013

ML5 (28kb)  EJRA reminder for academic staff with individually agreed retirement date before 1 October 2013

ML6 (27kb)  EJRA reminder for academic-related staff with individually agreed retirement date before 1 October 2013

Retirement date on or after 1 October 2013

If the retirement date falls on or after 1 October 2013, divisions and departments should use the following model letters:

ML1 (26kb)  EJRA reminder for academic staff who reach EJRA after 1 October 2013

ML2 (26kb)  EJRA reminder for academic-related staff who reach EJRA after 1 October 2013

ML7 (28kb)  EJRA reminder for academic staff with individually agreed retirement date after 1 October 2013

ML8 (27kb)  EJRA reminder for academic-related staff with individually agreed retirement date after 1 October 2013 

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3. Informal discussions

These discussions will obviously centre around the individual member of staff and the appropriate division, departments and associated employers.  However, given the encouragement in the EJRA procedure to consider flexible or new outcomes, Personnel Services and the Pensions Office should be consulted for help and support in considering options.
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4. The Request

This needs to reach the Director of Human Resources by the deadlines given in the above table.  When, however, a request is ready for submission at an earlier date there may well be benefit to all concerned in submitting it as soon as it is ready.

If an employee wishes to make a formal request to continue employment after the retirement date, the head of division should submit the request using the following model letter:

ML11 (24kb)   Formal request to continue employment beyond EJRA

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5. The Panel

The panel will sit as and when business requires, but it will expect to deal with the majority of requests in Trinity term each year. 

In the event that a panel cannot be convened within a reasonable timescale and all parties (i.e. the division, department, the individual and, if relevant, the college or the NHS Trust) are in agreement, the chairman of the Personnel Committee may determine urgent cases.

The EJRA panel’s decision will be notified using one of the following model letters

ML12 (22kb)  Approval by panel of request to extend employment beyond EJRA

ML13 (22kb)  Rejection by panel of request to extend employment beyond EJRA

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6. End of EJRA extension

An important part of any agreement to extending employment beyond the EJRA will be the decision whether or not to preclude a request for a further extension.

In cases where a request for a further extension is not ruled out there will, in due course, be a requirement to write to the employee to remind them of the approach of the new retirement date. The division or department should use the following model letters:

ML9 (27kb)  EJRA reminder for academic staff approaching end date of EJRA extension

ML10 (27kb)  EJRA reminder for academic-related staff approaching end date of EJRA extension

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7. Voluntary retirement

Where the employee decides to retire on the EJRA, they should be encouraged to send in a retirement letter.  This might feel like a more positive way to bring employment to a close than the alternative, which would have to be a letter of dismissal.

If an employee who has been reminded of their retirement date elects to retire on or before that date they should use the following model letter:

ML16 (22kb) Notice of intention to retire on or before EJRA

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8. Dismissal

Under the EJRA dismissal will result in cases where:

  • the employee does not request an extension but also does not elect to retire on or before the EJRA
  • the employee’s request for an extension is rejected
  • an EJRA extension comes to an end and a further extension has already been precluded

Where an employee is to be dismissed under the EJRA, the following letters should be used:

ML13 (22kb) Rejection by panel of request to extend employment beyond EJRA

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Documents