The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Money
‘The Salvation Army left me pensionless after 20 years’
‘There was no way I could afford to put money aside for my own pension’
Hundreds of former Salvation Army officers who left before retirement age have been denied pensions because of harsh rules that punish early departers.
Ex- officers said the “incredibly unjust” rules have left them facing poverty in retirement.
Kim Palmer*, 54, from London, said she was shocked that she would not receive any pension despite 20 years’ service. “I spent a lifetime working there,” she said. “They had an accrued pension for me but decided I wasn’t worthy of it because I left.”
Full-time officers with the Salvation Army – an international charity and evangelical Christian church that works with disadvantaged communities – are known as ministers of religion and do not qualify as employees, thus are not covered by the Government’s automatic enrolment rules for workplace pensions. Instead, they receive free accommodation for them and their families, along with a monthly allowance, currently £1,020. Those who retire with the organisation are given a “pension allowance” and subsidised accommodation.
The charity does not guarantee a pension for those who leave early, however. In 2017, it changed the rules so that an officer could transfer a pension after 10 years’ service, but this is still discretionary.
Ms Palmer, whose monthly allowance was £800, said: “There was no way I could put money aside for my own pension. I have a child so it was always very tight. You aren’t even allowed to take on another job. I would do work for another church but the money went straight to the Salvation Army.”
Ms Palmer received a “termination mination grant” of £4,000 but said this s would not fund a single year of retirement. ment.
Philip Mountain, 57, said he and his wife would get a pittance because cause they left the charity in 2011. “We were treated like deserters. My wife served for 32 years and I for 21. We will receive nothing.”
Mr Mountain, now a music teacher, said many officers had difficulty building up personal savings and so found it hard to leave. “Many want to but can’t because they are financially trapped,” he said. “For us to be penalised in this way is awful when the organisation purports to hold high morals.”
Mr Mountain started a petition calling for change, which has received 1,354 signatures, and is part of a group of more than 130 others in the same position. He said he is entitled to a pension because his allowance slip included “pensionable pay”. He was due a £7,000 grant but this was cut to £1,300 after deductions were made for a course he had taken. A Salvation Army spokesman said the charity was prohibited from making pension payments to officers who chose to leave early. He added: “We pay a grant to those who resign before retirement age. Our donors expect their money to be used to help vulnerable people and we work hard to ensure as much money as possible goes directly to our services.” David Kendall, 56, from Hamilton in Scotland, Scotland left in 2007. In 2013 he was told he would w receive a pension, but a year later, lat he received a letter that said he would w receive nothing unless he was in financial hardship. “The Salvation Army purportedly fights for social justice but there’s no justice for those th in its ranks,” he said. Church Ch of England clergy receive rece a “defined benefit” pension based on their service and annual ann salary. Those who leave early ea can keep their pension or transfer t it to another provider. Ministers of the Methodist church pay 9.3pc of their salary towards their pension while the church pays 26.9pc.