Membership
The Final salary plan is now generally closed to new members.
It was open to Unilever employees who:
- were working at Unilever before 1 January 2008;
- were permanent, or temporary for at least 12 months;
- were aged 18 or over; and
- met any other conditions set by their particular Unilever employer.
As an existing member of the Final salary plan, your pensionable service will simply continue – you do not have to do anything else to confirm your membership.
Belonging to other funds
You are allowed to save in other pension arrangements – such as a personal pension or a stakeholder – at the same time as building up your Final salary plan pension.
If you are thinking of doing this, you should bear in mind:
- The Unilever UK Pension Fund allows you to pay extra contributions, through the Investing plan. If you decide to save more in this way, you currently benefit from Unilever covering the running costs of the plan while you are in pensionable service. If you save in a personal or stakeholder pension plan elsewhere, you will pay this kind of charge yourself.
- The Unilever Contribution Arrangement allows you to make savings on National Insurance.
- Contributions and benefits in other tax approved arrangements count towards the HM Revenue & Customs tax allowances.
If you have left benefits in a tax-approved arrangement you were in before joining Unilever, you may be able to transfer them into the Investing plan, as long as the Trustees agree and the benefits meet certain conditions. For example, they must be worth more than a certain level (currently £10,000) and they cannot normally be transferred from a ‘contracted out’ scheme (see State Second Pension (S2P) under What benefits will I get from the state? )
Please get in touch with Unilever Peoplelink if you would like more details.