Bahamas - Apply for Pension and Gratitudes for Public Offices

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Procedure

Apply In-Person

1. To Apply for Pension and Gratuity the Officer should liaise with the Human Resource department, six months before the desired retirement date to verify whether (s)he qualifies for retirement benefits.
2. Visit the following Contact Details: Link.
3. Officer must complete and submit an application form for pension/gratuity along with the required documents as mentioned in the “Required Document” section of the procedure, and a letter giving the date that (s) he wishes to retire to his/her immediate supervisor.
4. The applicant can download the Form from the following Form Link.
5. The supervisor/HR must then complete a request for benefit and submit it to the PS/Head of Department for signing.
6. The PS/Head of Department must then prepare and submit a recommendation to the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Public Service.
7. The Department of Public Service will verify the accuracy of employee information and compute the benefit that is due to the Officer.
8. A recommendation is then prepared for the Public Service Commission for final consideration.
9. The Public Service Commission makes a final determination regarding the benefits due to the officer and returns this to the Department of Public Service.
10. Department of Public Service will then prepare a letter to the officer advising of the amount of his/her benefits.
11. At this point the file is then passed on to the Accounts section of the Department of Public Service who will prepare a voucher for the gratuity and add the officer to the pension payroll.
12. The officer may contact the Treasury Department regarding the collection of the cheque.
13. Pension Payment will be remitted to the allocated account monthly.

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Required Documents

• Death Certificate
• Birth Certificate
• Passport
• Letters of Administration/Probate by the Agency’s HR department
• All submission by Family member/LPR
• Proof of Unpaid Leave
• Memorandum verifying that the officer is not indebted to the government
• Salary Progression
• Letter of appointment to the Public Service
• Copies of Blue G vouchers for each quarter of the last five years of service (for Family island employees)
  

Office Locations & Contacts

The Department of Public Service
Poinciana Hill Complex
Meeting Street
Nassau, New Providence
The Bahamas
Tel.  (242) 502 7200
Fax. (242) 326 6929
Opening hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday, except public holidays
Contact Address Details Link
Contact Details for Family Island Link

Eligibility

Public officers, who are members of the Pensionable Establishment, may qualify for the award of pension provided:

• Member of the permanent staff
• At least five (5) years minimum full-time service.
• Service is continuous or unbroken.
• Completed at least 30 years of continuous service.
• At least 55 years of age.
• Is considered by a Government Medical Board to be medically unfit for continued employment.
• Reached the mandatory retirement age of 65 years.
  

Pensionable officers may retire early, with the award of pensions, provided they meet at least one of the following options:

• Have served for thirty years.
• Submitted a request for early retirement on medical grounds.
  

The following officers should refer to the relevant Act for Benefits and Awards for further information:

•  Judges – Judges Remuneration and Pensions Act
• Members of The Royal Bahamas Police Force – The Police Force Act 2009
• Prison officers – The Prison Act
• Officers of The Defence Force – The Defence Force Act
  

Fees

No processing fee for this service.

Validity

The application should be submitted six months in advance of the desired retirement date.

Documents to Use

Application Form Link

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

Benefits are awarded within two to four months of the death of a serving public officer. This may vary depending on the agency's processing time.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

Please provide other instructions related to the certificate/documents.
e.g. The state office holds birth records since january 1908.

Required Information

• Name of Applicant in full
• Title of present Office
• Date of Birth (Please enclose a copy of your birth certificate)
• Total Pensionable Service
• Present annual salary (“Salary” does not include allowance)
• Cause of Retirement
• Particulars of all offices held
• If Full Pension or Reduced Pension and Gratuity applied for
• Amount of leave without salary taken and dates
• Whether service continuous and unbroken
• Employee No
• National Insurance No
• Telephone No. (Home)
• P. O. Box No
• Date of application
  

Need for the Document

It is required to apply for pension for public services.

Information which might help

Website Link

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

Place some external links which might help.

Others

• The maximum length of service required for a pension is 40 years, or 480 months. For the purpose of awarding a pension or gratuity, all periods of continuous (unbroken) service, i.e. temporary (weekly or monthly) terms and permanent employment, are considered. Unpaid (no-salary) periods cannot be counted; only paid (salary) service counts.
• The pension awarded to public officers is payable for life. On death of the pensioner the surviving spouse or dependant may make application for a gratuity called an Ex-Gratia Award equivalent to one (1) year’s pension, upon presentation of certain documents.
• Public officers are entitled to a lifetime pension. On the death of the pensioner, the surviving spouse or dependant may apply for an Ex-Gratia Award, which is equal to one (1) year's pension, if appropriate documentation is presented.