REPORT
The Chief Minister is promoting two amendments to the Public Employees (Contributory Retirement Scheme) (Existing Members) (Jersey) Regulations 1989 and the Public Employees (Contributory Retirement Scheme) (New Members) (Jersey) Regulations 1989.
An amendment has been drafted to Regulation 1 of the Existing and New Member Regulations so the definition of ‘salary’ is made clearer by the addition of clause (d) and generally improving the layout.
“’salary’ means the basic salary or wage of a member, together with the member’s pensionable allowances, if any, but does not include –
(a) overtime;
(b) payments of a temporary nature;
(c) payments in respect of untaken leave;
(d) extra hours payments, stand-by payments, call-out payments, or any other payments, unless the employer has declared the payments to be a pensionable allowance under Regulation 18 (1);”
The second amendment relates to Regulation 18 of the Existing and New Members Regulations which allows the employer to declare an additional payment or allowances a ‘pensionable allowance’.
The drafting is more precise and removes any assumed link between ‘overtime payment’ and ‘payments of a temporary nature’. The current situation in which the employer may declare a payment or allowance, paid in addition to basic salary or wage, a ‘pensionable allowance’ remains.
“Subject to this Regulation, the employer may from time to time declare to be a pensionable allowance any payment or allowance which is routinely paid to a member in addition to his or her basic salary or wage, but is not-
(a) any overtime payment;
(b) any payment of a temporary nature;
(c) any payment in respect of untaken leave.”.
The draft amendments have been agreed by the Joint Negotiating Group and the Committee of Management of the PECRS.
There are no financial or manpower implications arising from these draft amendments.