Flexible withdrawal meaning

Pensions Schemes Newsletter for July 2025 In its July 2025 Pensions Schemes Newsletter, HMRC said it has issued refunds after processing 12,767 claims lodged between 1 April 2025 and 30 June 2025 by people overcharged under pension flexibility rules. Since the government introduced retirement saving freedoms in 2015, the cumulative amount repaid for pension overtaxation has climbed to more than £1.4bn. These freedoms permit pension scheme members aged 55 and above to take lump sums or draw flexible payments from their pension savings. However, because of a peculiarity in the tax calculation, many savers are initially charged more tax than they truly owe when they first access their pension pots...

In this issue: Commercial Competition and state aid Corporate Free movement, immigration and employment Financial services Energy Environment Insurance and reinsurance IP Life sciences Regulatory TMT International trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers Commercial Commission launches consultation on Standardisation Regulation revision The European Commission has opened a call for evidence within its planned revision of the Standardisation Regulation. The initiative aims to remedy shortcomings found during the Regulation’s evaluation and to hasten the creation of systemic standards that bolster the EU’s resilience alongside its green and digital transitions. Stakeholders are invited to provide their views to inform the further development of the proposal. The consultation closes on 21 July 2025. See: LNB News 25/06/2025 29. Competition and state aid Mergers—Commission unconditionally clears Liberty Media/Dorna merger after phase II Following a phase II investigation (M.11539), the Commission granted unconditional clearance...

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO MONEY PURCHASE ARRANGEMENTS FROM 6 APRIL 2015 From 6 April 2015, new pension flexibilities expanded the retirement choices for DC members and others with ‘flexible benefits’ (in essence, money purchase and/or cash balance entitlements). As part of those reforms, drawdown became more broadly accessible. For background on the changes implemented on 6 April 2015, see Practice Note: Pension freedoms—an introduction [Archived]. This Practice Note concentrates on the legal framework for drawdown arrangements set up on and after 6 April 2015. It also addresses how pre-April 2015 drawdown is treated from that date. For the rules governing drawdown before 6 April 2015, see Practice Note: Drawdown between 6 April 2011 and 5 April 2015 [Archived]. What is drawdown? The label ‘drawdown pension’ (often called ‘flexible income’) replaced ‘unsecured pension’ and ‘alternatively secured pension’ used up to 5 April 2011. Drawdown pension describes the method of paying benefits that allows members to set their own yearly income from a pension arrangement...

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES IN RELATION TO DEFINED BENEFIT OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES This Practice Note sets out approaches for addressing a section 75 debt in the context of a transaction, with particular emphasis on multi-employer schemes where a range of options may exist. It also outlines considerations connected to the Pensions Regulator's clearance process and the notifiable events regime. For trustee-focused considerations when deciding how a section 75 debt should be managed on an employment cessation event, see Practice Note: employment cessation events—trustee decision-making process. For matters specific to section 75 debts triggered during a group reorganisation, see Practice Note: Intra-group reorganisations and pensions. Determining whether a section 75 debt will be triggered Section 75 debt triggers A section 75 debt (often called an 'employer debt') may become payable by the employer of a defined benefit occupational pension scheme where: the scheme is a multi-employer arrangement and an employment cessation event occurs in relation to that employer (described in this Practice...

Under section 80F of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), an employee has a statutory entitlement to ask their employer to make defined changes to their contract terms (ie to submit a flexible working request). The core elements of this entitlement are outlined below. The statutory framework for flexible working is contained in sections 80F to 80I of the ERA 1996 and the Flexible Working Regulations 2014, SI 2014/1398. On 6 April 2024, a series of reforms took effect to broaden opportunities for flexible working. These are summarised in Changes to the statutory scheme in force from 6 April 2024, below. The statutory scheme is supported by the Acas Code of Practice on requests for flexible working (Acas flexible working Code), which took effect on 6 April 2024, together with Acas non-statutory advice. For further information, see Acas Code of Practice and guidance, below. This Practice Note covers: the statutory framework for making, and responding to, a request for flexible working the legal and...

[ On the employer’s letterhead ] [ Insert worker’s full name and address ] [ Insert date ] Dear [ insert name of worker ] You may already know that the Working Time Regulations 1998 place a cap on your working hours. Although the exact method for calculating this is complex, in terms your average working time is restricted to an average of 48 hours in a week. However, you may opt out of this limit if you wish to. [ You are normally expected to work more than 48 hours weekly and, unless you then agree to opt out of the cap, we would have to limit your hours to the maximum allowed by the Working Time Regulations 1998 ]...

1 Introduction 1.1 This document explains our approach to managing requests from employees to vary their terms and conditions of employment in relation to: 1.1.1 the number of hours the employee must work (for instance, asking to work fewer hours each week); and/or 1.1.2 the pattern of working time (for example, beginning earlier or later in the day); and/or 1.1.3 the place of work (any Company workplace and/or the employee’s home) where the employee is required to work (for example, an office-based employee seeking one homeworking day per week). 1.2 [ If you wish to apply to opt in to hybrid working, meaning staff spend part of their working time in the workplace and part working remotely from home (or elsewhere), please see our Hybrid working policy, which explains the process to follow in those circumstances. ] 1.3 [ Other alterations to working arrangements are dealt with under the informal process described in paragraph 11 below. ] 1.4 This...

[ Enter name of employee ] [ Enter address of employee ] [ Enter date ] Dear [ enter employee’s name ] I am contacting you about your request for flexible working dated [ enter date as shown on employee’s request ] (hereafter referred to simply as ‘your flexible working request’)...