Membership rule changes

Dates affecting changes to the membership rules of the Local Government Pension Scheme are given below.

April 6 1978 - Coroners, other than the Queen's coroner and attorney or the coroner to the Queen's household, are admitted to the scheme unless employed prior to April 1 1978 and had opted under Article 3(b) of the Social Security (Modification of Coroners (Amendment) Act 1926) Order 1978 SI 374 that the provisions of the Coroners (Amendment) Act 1926 relating to pensions should not be applicable.

January 6 1986 - Twelve-month waiting period for whole-time manual workers with previous local government pension rights was removed.

April 1 1987 - Optional membership was introduced for some part-time employees.

April 6 1988 -  Membership was no longer compulsory for new starters. Existing members could opt out.

October 1 1989 - Entry age for scheme membership was reduced from 18 to 16. Waiting period of 12 months was abolished for manual workers.

April 1 1990 - Automatic membership was reinstated with the right to opt out for employees working  30 hours or more per week and for justices' clerks and registration officers. Membership was still by option for employees working 15 hours or more per week for 35 weeks or more per year. Employees who opted out within three months of joining were treated as having never been a pensionable employee.

August 17 1993 - The 15-hour-per-week minimum rule was removed. The scheme was open to all  except casual employees, employees with contracts of less than three months and part-timers working less than 35 weeks per year.

May 2 1995 - All existing employees, other than casual employees, were automatically brought into the scheme with the right to opt out. Casual employees could opt to join the scheme.