The Teachers' Superannuation (Scotland) Regulations 2005

Qualification for retirement benefits

E5.—(1) A teacher shall qualify for retirement benefits if–

(a) immediately before 6th April 1988 that teacher would but for his or her age have been entitled under regulation 46 of the 1977 Regulations(1) to payment of retirement benefits;

(b) immediately before the date these Regulations come into force, regulation E4(5) of the 1992 Regulations(2) applied to that teacher; or

(c) he or she has completed an appropriate qualifying period.

(2) A qualifying period, which may be discontinuous, comprises every period of a kind described in Schedule 8 but excludes any period in respect of which contributions have been returned to the teacher and not repaid to the Scottish Ministers.

(3) If a teacher was in pensionable employment by virtue of regulation B9, any period of one year in such employment is an appropriate qualifying period.

(4) If the teacher was in pensionable employment, or paying additional contributions to purchase current added years under regulation 28 of the 1977 Regulations, on 6th April 1988, any qualifying period of 2 years shall be an appropriate one.

(5) If paragraph (4) does not apply, a qualifying period of 2 years beginning after 5th April 1988 shall be an appropriate one; and any period of the kind described in paragraph 4 of Schedule 8 shall be treated for the purposes of this paragraph as having begun after 5th April 1988.

(6) If neither paragraph (4) nor paragraph (5) applies, and the teacher was in pensionable employment before 6th April 1988, any qualifying period of 5 years shall be an appropriate one.

(7) Notwithstanding that an appropriate qualifying period has not been completed, a teacher shall qualify for retirement benefits if–

(a) that teacher has been employed in pensionable employment during a period in respect of which he or she has a guaranteed minimum pension being a period in respect of which a contributions equivalent premium cannot be paid; or

(b) a transfer value was paid in respect of him or her by the Scottish Ministers to the superannuation scheme of the Commission of the European Communities and one has since been received by the Scottish Ministers from that scheme.

(1)

Regulation 46 was amended by S.I. 1978/1507, 1980/344, 1983/639, 1988/1618 and 1989/666 (and revoked by S.I. 1992/280).

(2)

S.I. 1992/280 (“the 1992 Regulations”). The 1992 Regulations are revoked in their entirety by these Regulations (see Schedule 1 to these Regulations).