Working in Retirement and Abatement

There are many reasons as to why teachers return to the workforce in retirement. These include for financial reasons, to assist with teacher supply, for social and emotional benefit etc.

Yes. Teachers who retire through compulsory, voluntary or early voluntary retirement are eligible to take up employment whilst in receipt of a public sector pension.  This employment can either be in the public or private sector or be self-employment.  Should you decide to undertake work in retirement there are a number of considerations including taxation, social welfare entitlements and the possible impact on your public service pension.

Yes. Given the ongoing teacher supply challenges, retired teachers are being encouraged to return to provide substitute cover.

If you were a permanent and pensionable public servant i.e. worked as a teacher, your pension may be subject to abatement if you decide to go back to work in the public sector. This is not just teaching but any other public sector work e.g. nursing.

Essentially abatement is a reduction in the public service pension. You cannot earn more than your pension which you are receiving combined with the income from your new employment than what you would have earned should you have remained in employment as a teacher prior to retirement.

For example:
Working prior to retirement	Working in retirement
Salary   €80,000	Pension  €37,000
	New Employment €45,000
	Total €82,000

As this teacher is earning more than what they earned whilst in employment as a teacher, their pension will be subject to abatement.

Abatement is calculated on a teacher’s gross pension, salary and former pensionable pay at retirement. It is calculated on a daily basis. Regardless of the number of hours or minutes you work in a given day in a calendar year, you are considered to have worked a full day.

No. It is specific to each individual.  As per DE Circular 004/2024, there is a waiver for the first 50 days in place until the end of the 2025 calendar year.

This means that abatement will not apply for the first 50 days of work in a calendar year. You should note that the waiver does not apply to the Supplementary pension.

Teachers who return to a school to take up teaching (fixed-term or subbing) are placed on the first point of the post 2011 salary scale. The likelihood of abatement applying for teachers who undertake occasional substitute work is low.

Teachers who take on more constant work and who advance on the pay scale may find that they are more likely who have abatement applied. Again this will depend on individual circumstances but with the vast majority not subject to abatement.

No. The statistics provided by the DE over the last few years have shown that the number of teachers who are actually abated and the amounts are quite small each year.

The DE has a dedicated email address (abatementqueries@education.gov.ie)  to assist with any queries on the possible application and impact of abatement should you decide to return to the workplace. The DE has developed a modeller and FAQs.

No. However, there could be tax or social welfare implications for any income earned in retirement.

The DE has published FAQs including examples and a modeller to assist in calculating any possible abatement.

The occupational supplementary pension (OSP) will stop for the period that you return to employment. Once you stop working your OSP will resume.

Yes. You would make pension contributions into the Single Public Service Pension Scheme. There is a two year vesting period, equivalent to 730 days of substitute work. Should you not meet this vesting period you can claim a refund of your contributions once you have ceased working for at least 3 months.

 

If you complete the vesting period of the Single Pension Scheme (contributed to the Scheme for 24 months or more, 730 or more days of substitute work) then you have attained vested status, and cannot claim a refund of your pension contributions, as you have earned an entitlement to some pension benefits under this scheme. This applies to all Public Sector work you might engage in, not just teaching.

Teachers wishing to claim a refund of their pension contributions should complete and return  Form R002 to the Department of Education.

You should maintain registration with the Teaching Council. Should you not do so, you can only be engaged as an unregistered teacher and would be comprehended under the 5 day rule. You would also be paid at the unqualified rate.

If your registration has lapsed, the Teaching Council has a tailored registration process in place for those seeking to return to the register.

Unless you terminate your membership, a deduction will be made from salary for each day you work for INTO subscription. The rate of deduction is 0.756% of salary.  Different benefits and services apply to retired teachers.