Flexible Service - Conditions of Service

Am I eligible?

Flexible Service is available to Regular Service Personnel.

Details

Your Pay

To be fair to everyone, pay is linked to your Flexible Service (FS) Arrangement. Once your arrangement has been confirmed, JPA will automatically make the necessary changes from the agreed FS start date.

For Part-Time (PT) Service, your pay will be reduced by 20% or 40% for an equivalent reduction in service and is applied to both your core pay and any supplements you receive. So, daily supplements will only be earned on the days you are on duty. This pay will continue to be paid on a monthly (1/12th) basis, calculated from the reduced salary level. This will give you an assured monthly income regardless of the work pattern you agree.

For Restricted Separation, your X-Factor will be reduced by a percentage which takes account of X-Factor components for separation, stress and danger, which are judged to be reduced under Restricted Service.

If you take PT and RS together, both your pay and X-Factor are altered as outlined above.

Your Pension and Early Departure Payment

The common principle is that your pension/Early Departure Payment (EDP) will be adjusted proportionally to allow for reduced pay levels under FS.

This is complicated because there are different MOD pension schemes and rules, which depend on when you joined up and/or whether you transferred into a different pension scheme. For most people, these reductions will be applied using the career-average earnings model used by the Armed Forces Pension Scheme (AFPS) 15 but in some cases, such as the full protection cohort under earlier schemes (AFPS 75 and 05), your pension will be revalued using reckonable service totals – a different calculation method.

The point of initial qualification (i.e. the 20 Year point for EDP AFPS15) will continue to be based upon service anniversary points (excluding periods of unpaid service) as is already the case. 

So, in plain English, you will receive your pension/EDP at the original anniversary point but its value will be proportionally less for the time you spend on FS. For more detail refer to JSP 754.

Ill Health Pension

There will also be a reduction in your ill health pension as it is linked to days worked. For AFPS 05 and 15 schemes, the final relevant earnings will be based on your full-time equivalent earnings. JSP 754 provides more detail.

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme

No Change. If you serve part time under FS, you will receive Armed Forces Compensation Scheme benefits in full and the payment of Guaranteed Income Payment and Survivors Guaranteed Income Payment will be calculated based on full time equivalent salary.

Resettlement Grant 

No Change. This will continue to be paid at the Qualifying Service anniversary in line with the relevant scheme rules (see JSP 754) and will not be altered because of your FS (which is regarded as continual service). 

Leave

If you serve part-time, earned leave types (e.g. Annual Leave) will be reduced in proportion for as long as your FS arrangement using the same methodology for calculating part-leave years eg if you dial down 20% for a year, your leave allocation will be reduced by 20% for that year.

Other statutory leave types, supported by the Armed Forces, such as maternity, medical and similar leave/absence entitlements, will not be affected provided you meet the minimum qualifying criteria.

Compensatory leave types like relocation and operational leave will not be affected as you will normally take these before or after your FS period and will continue to be calculated within exisit eligibility and entitlement rules.

If you are leaving, you will be returned to full-time pay during your Terminal Leave period prior to leaving the Service, so a FS arrangement must end prior to the start of Terminal Leave to allow the leave to be taken as a single full-time/full pay period.  See JSP 760.

Maternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave 

If you are on a FS arrangement, the Armed Forces' Occupational Maternity Scheme will apply.

You can apply to suspend your FS arrangement before you start this leave, which does not require the usual 90 days' notice or Authority Approval and if entitled, you will receive the same entitlement to leave and pay as a full-time SP.  When you return to work the FS terms of service are reinstated, provided they would still be in force (suspension will not extend the end-date of the FS Arrangement). This option is recommended for those on Part Time working and may suit a new parent who knows they will return to work before the FS period ends or there is a chance they will return to work before this date.

You can apply to terminate your FS arrangement before you start maternity leave and will receive normal rates of pay during ordinary maternity leave and will return to full-commitment terms. There will be no guarantee that any new FS arrangement will be approved if you apply for one when you return to work. 

If you continue your FS arrangement during maternity leave and stay on reduced pay, then the FS arrangement will stay in place when you return to work. During the Armed Forces Occupational Maternity Scheme period, you will not be able to accrue Part-Time absence days.

This period of maternity while on FS will count towards your total FS allowance (4 in 12 year rule) and the end date will not be extended unless you apply for it.

A FS arrangement will not change Statutory Maternity Pay calculations.

If you are on a Part-Time arrangement you will be entitled to the 10 Keeping In Touch days.

The same conditions will apply if you wish to take Adoption Leave and/or Shared Parental leave. 

More information can be found in 2019DIN01-005 until JSP 760 is updated.

How do I apply?

More information is on the applying for flexible service page