If you re-enter the Fund within 36 months from your date of separation, your participation in the Fund is deemed to have been continuous (provided that you were not already paid a withdrawal settlement). Your pension contributions will continue to be made to the same account. The period in between your date of separation and of re-entry into Fund participation will be considered a period of break-in-service, which cannot be made pensionable. You do not need to submit any document to the Fund, as your employing organization will provide the required information to the Fund.

If you participated in the Fund in the past and upon separation were paid a withdrawal settlement from the Fund, and you again become a participant in the Fund, you can restore your most recent prior period of contributory service, and make it contributory. Restoration is also available if you elected or deemed to have elected a deferred retirement benefit, which was not yet in payment at the time of your election to restore. You must apply for restoration within 12 months from your date of re-entry into Fund participation.

Restoration is also available if you are a participant who is in service as at 1 January 2023 and have an entitlement to a deferred retirement benefit that was established on or after 1 April 2007 and that is not yet due to be in payment. However, such requests must be made by 31 December 2023.

If none of the above are applicable in your case, upon re-entering the Fund a new pension account will be opened to you, and your contributions for the new period of participation in the Fund will be paid to that account. Your contributions for your new period of participation in the Fund cannot be added to your previous pension account, and you will have two separate pension accounts with the Fund. Upon separation you will be paid a benefit from each pension account separately.

If you wish to restore a withdrawal settlement, there are 2 ways of applying for restoration:

1. Complete the PENS.C/1-Notice of Election to Restore form and submit it directly to the Pension Fund or to the Secretary of your local Staff Pension Committee within your employing organization.
2. Submit a request for restoration inside your Member Self-Service account under the Restoration tab
   
   Your application will be reviewed and if you meet the eligibility requirements, the Pension Fund will calculate the amount that you will have to pay back in order to add your prior contributory service to your present participation. You may opt to pay in a lump-sum or via monthly payments.

If you wish to restore a deferred retirement benefit, please fill out form PENS.C/8 to express your interest in restoring. Upon receipt of this form, the Fund will determine the participant’s eligibility to avail of restoration under article 24 bis. If confirmed, the related estimates will be generated and provided to the applicant, together with instructions on the next steps in the process. If, based on the estimate, the participant decides to proceed with a formal request of restoration, they must submit a second, C.9 (FINAL CONSENT FORM PENS.C/9 EN) to the Fund, within sixty days of receipt of the estimate. This form will be sent directly by the Fund to participants who have confirmed they want to elect restoration, following the process above described.

(a) If you previously took a withdrawal settlement, you must pay back to the Fund, through your employing organization, the amount of the withdrawal settlement that was paid to you when you separated plus compound interest of 3.25% per annum from the date the benefit was paid until the date of your election to restore.

(b) If you elected or were deemed to have elected a deferred retirement benefit prior to 1 April 2007, the restoration is at no cost to you since your monies remained with the Fund. Restoring means that you will cease to be entitled to the deferred retirement benefit previously set up; instead, such prior service and any applicable break in service will be added to your current active participation.

(c) If you elected or were deemed to have elected a deferred retirement benefit on or after 1 April 2007, the value of the contributory service to be credited shall be determined to be equivalent to the actuarial value of the deferred retirement benefit not yet in payment. This means restoration in the case of a deferred retirement benefit may not result in the restoration of the full period of contributory service initially earned for the prior period of participation, because the restoration must be carried out at no cost to the Fund.

YES. You must elect to restore within one year of re-entering the Fund or prior to separation from service, whichever is earlier. Failure to apply within the one-year deadline would result in your right to restoration being irrevocably forfeited.

If you are a participant who is in service as at 1 January 2023 and have an entitlement to a deferred retirement benefit that was established on or after 1 April 2007, you must submit your request by 31 December 2023.

YES. If you had several periods of prior contributory service, only the most recent one can be restored. You must restore the entire period of service open to restoration.

Submitting a request (through the form or MSS) does not mean that you are committing yourself to pay. Upon receipt of your Notice of Election to restore, your application will be reviewed and if you meet the eligibility requirements, the Pension Fund will calculate the amount that you will have to pay back in order to add your prior contributory service to your present participation.

You will then be informed in writing by the Pension Fund or by the Secretary of your local Staff Pension Committee of the amount due by you and the methods of payment available to you. If, upon review, the Pension Fund deems you ineligible to restore, you will receive a written notification to this effect.

You may choose one of the following two methods of payment: i. in full in a lump sum or ii. in equal monthly installments (with compound interest) via payroll deductions over a period no longer than half that of the prior contributory service being restored, and to be completed, in any event, before separation.

Yes. If you decide to pay in a one-time lump sum, you will have a period of 90 days to pay this amount to your employing organization (not to the Pension Fund), from the date of the above notification or prior to separation from service if earlier. If you want to pay by monthly installments, monthly payments must commence within 90 days of the date of the above notification.

If payment of the lump sum or the first monthly installment is not made within this 90-day period, or prior to separation from service if earlier, your right to restore will be deemed to be canceled irrevocably, without further notification.

You will have to pay the balance upon separation. If you fail to complete the restoration payments, the Pension Fund will reimburse to you the installments you already paid and the restoration will be irrevocably cancelled. In this regard, you must contact the Fund immediately to find out the outstanding amount still due.

If you changed employing organizations before the restoration payments are completed, it is your responsibility to ensure that your new employer is informed of the existing arrangements and the need to continue with the payroll deductions so that there is no disruption in the reimbursement process.

In order to restore, you must pay the full amount required to restore the entire period of service open to restoration within the given time period. You cannot pay only for part of it. Therefore, in the event that you are unable to pay the full amount the Pension Fund will reimburse to you the installments you have already paid and your right to restore will be irrevocably cancelled.

A survivor who becomes entitled to a benefit may make the election or the payments on your behalf within the time-limits applicable.