Firefighters agree pension memorandum of understanding with government

The Fire Brigades Union and the government have agreed a memorandum of understanding that will allow retained firefighters to receive their pension entitlement going back to earlier in their careers, with their pension based on their modified scheme¹.

Previously, only employment dating back to the introduction of the Part Time Worker Regulations, on 1 July 2000, was counted for the purposes of retained – on-call, or part-time – firefighters’ pension entitlements.

However, in a similar case involving a Judge’s employment (O’Brien v Ministry of Justice, November 2018) it was ruled that a scheme similar to this one discriminated against older workers, who would be more affected by this limitation.

As a result of this case retained firefighters will now have the opportunity for their employment to be made pensionable much earlier in their careers. The ruling also included retained firefighters who have transferred to wholetime.

The memorandum of understanding, which has been made public today after having been under negotiation for some time, will facilitate this taking place.

Mark Rowe, national officer, Fire Brigades Union said:

“This is very good news for retained firefighters who will now be provided the opportunity to have previous employment as a retained firefighter count towards their pension, under the conditions of the Second Options Exercise Memorandum of Understanding. Some retained firefighters were previously losing out, so we’re delighted to successfully conclude these negotiations for our members. The government have been proved wrong time and time again when it comes to pensions, and we will continue to fight for justice for all of our members.”

For more information, interview or comment please contact Ben Duncan-Duggal on ben.duncan-duggal@fbu.org.uk or 07825 635224.