Pensions for retained firefighters

Retained “RDS” firefighters, who work on-call alongside whole-time fire fighters, will be able to claim pension entitlement going back to earlier in their careers, with their pension based on the modified scheme, under a memorandum of understanding between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the government. For the time being, this applies only to those employed in England, but previous agreements have subsequently been applied to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the FBU said.

Mark Rowe, national officer, described it as very good news: “Some retained firefighters were previously losing out, so we’re delighted to successfully conclude these negotiations for our members.”

Previously, only employment dating back to the introduction of the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (‘PTWR’) was due to be counted. However, in a similar case involving the employment of judges (O’Brien v Ministry of Justice, November 2018) it was ruled that their scheme had discriminated against older workers, who would be more affected by this limitation. Once the necessary amendments have been made to the pension scheme regulations, this will be progressed through a “second options” exercise.