Ill health retirement

Ill health/medical retirement allows employees to access their pension benefits early where their health is preventing them from continuing to work due to:

a physical or mental medical condition;
a disability; or
an injury.

There are different types of ill health retirement, and this is determined by how much an employee can work with their health.

Eligibility

To meet the requirements for ill health retirement, medical evidence must show an employee cannot do their job and their condition is not expected to improve. An employee must also be an active member of the University's Superannuation Scheme (USS) or University of 黑料社 Retirement Savings Scheme (ERSS), or if applicable, the NHS Pension Scheme.

Ill health retirement can be considered at any stage during the Sickness Absence Procedure, including as part of an outcome following a meeting held under the formal stages of the procedure. However, advice must be sought from our Pay and Benefits (Pensions) team prior to any decision being made for ill health retirement, as the requirements for an employee to remain employed during the application and approval process differs between the USS, ERSS and NHS Pension Schemes.

Process

The process for an application for ill health retirement varies depending on the pension scheme an employee is a member of:

For the USS and NHS pension schemes, the application must come from the Employer, an employee cannot apply themselves. The relevant HR Partner/Advisor and Pay and Benefits (Pensions) team will provide support with this.
For the ERSS pension scheme, the application must be made by the employee directly to the ERSS administrators.
For employees who were in the 黑料社 Retirement Benefit Scheme (ERBS), which closed from 30 November 2016, the University can assist with making an application for benefits. Please contact our Pay and Benefits (Pensions) team to discuss this.

It is important to highlight that the process for ill health retirement is complex and requires approval of both the University’s Occupational Health Physician and the Pension Scheme’s Physician and may therefore take several months.

Where ill health retirement is approved, the University will treat the retirement as mutually agreed termination of employment, not a dismissal, and therefore this does not carry a right of appeal or right to paid notice.

An employee who is not a member of one of the pensions schemes, or who does not meet the eligibility criteria for ill health retirement, can still leave their employment with the University by mutual agreement, where both the employee and the University agree that the employment cannot be continued due to ill health.

Where ill health retirement is not an option, or is not agreed to by the employee, termination of employment with contractual notice will be considered on the grounds of the employee’s capability to carry out the duties of the post. This may be necessary where a medical review indicates that the employee is unlikely to be fit to return to work or return within a reasonable timescale.

In such cases, it is important to note that the employee is not being accused of any form of misconduct, and termination of employment will only be considered after a thorough investigation and consultation with the individual at all stages of the Sickness Absence Procedure.

Untaken annual leave

Where an employee does not return to work following an extended period of absence and their employment is terminated, whether by ill health retirement, resignation, mutual consent or dismissal, any untaken statutory entitlement from previous leave years will be calculated and paid in lieu, along with the pro-rata contractual entitlement from the current leave year.

Example: A full-time employee on Grade D leaves employment at the university at the end of April 2025, having been off work since February 2024. They took no annual leave (other than bank holidays and closure days) in 2024 and 2025.

The employee should be paid in lieu of untaken statutory leave in 2024 (28 days - 11 bank holiday/closure days = 17 days) + pro-rata contractual leave to end of April 2025 (4/12*28 days = 9 days) = 26 days.