GovWire

Following the European Court of Justice and House of Lords rulings in 2000/2001 in favour of part-timers gaining retrospective access to occupational pension schemes, provided they meet the necessary legal requirements, the Preston factors (earnings and interest factors) are provided for employers.

The factors are used to provide those entitled to reinstatement an opportunity to gain pension service at no cost to them, which as far as possible makes these individuals no better and no worse off than if they had paid contributions to the scheme when they were originally employed.