Your benefit choices

Find out how the Unilever Benefits Envelope and your pay can build your pension.

Your benefits

Working for Unilever gives you valuable benefits, such as access to a pension and protection for you and your family while you’re working.

Your total reward package includes a Benefits Envelope on top of your pay. It's worth 25% of your pensionable earnings (your basic pay and, for some people, other allowances). You can use it to save for pension, give yourself extra taxable pay or both.

You can buy other benefits with your pay.

Did you know?

The Benefits Envelope is exclusive to Unilever. By law, companies can pay as little as 3% into pension. At Unilever, your Benefits Envelope is worth 25% of your pensionable earnings on top of your pay. You can use it to save for pension, give yourself extra taxable pay or both.

You should review your options regularly to make sure you'll have enough money to live on when you retire, especially if you are not currently using your Benefits Envelope to save for pension.

You can make changes to some of these benefits whenever you want. But some can only be changed once a year during Annual Renewal.

What changes you can make   Stop saving for pension

Saving into your pension

Below you can read in detail about how you can save from your Benefits Envelope and from your pay.

Benefits Envelope

Save for your pension

You can save for pension in the Retirement Savings Plan.

The Retirement Savings Plan gives you a pot of money that’s invested to help it grow over time. When you retire, you use this money to give yourself an income.

When you use your Benefits Envelope to save into the Retirement Savings Plan, the amount of Income Tax and National Insurance that you pay will not increase.

If you use your Benefits Envelope for extra taxable pay you pay more Income Tax and National Insurance.

Read more about investment options in the Retirement Savings Plan
Find out how you can use the money in your pot

Extra taxable pay

You can take some or all of your Benefits Envelope as extra taxable pay.

Two of the most common reasons for doing this are if you need more money now to pay bills or if building up pension could take you over your annual allowance.

From your pay

Save more for pension

You can boost your pension by saving some of your pay into the Retirement Savings Plan. This is called making extra voluntary contributions (EVCs).

You can only make extra voluntary contributions (EVCs) if you are using your Benefits Envelope to save for pension.

If you are not using your Benefits Envelope to save for pension you can start saving into the Retirement Savings Plan at any time.

You can save:

  • A one-off amount whenever you want
  • A regular amount every month
  • Both

When you make any kind of extra voluntary contributions, you pay less Income Tax on your pay.

And, if you choose to save every month for a year, you’ll pay less Income Tax and National Insurance on your pay.

Saving a one-off amount

To save a one-off amount into the Retirement Savings Plan, download and fill in an extra voluntary contributions form.

You will not pay Income Tax on the one-off amount that you save into the Retirement Savings Plan.

You can only make extra voluntary contributions (EVCs) if you are using your Benefits Envelope to save for pension.

If you are not using your Benefits Envelope to save for pension can start saving into the Retirement Savings Plan.

On the form, tick ‘one-off contribution’ and fill in the amount.

Saving a regular amount

You can commit to saving every month for a year, or keep the flexibility to save less or stop when you want.

Committing to saving

When you commit to saving every month from your pay it costs you less than you think. This is because you’ll save through salary sacrifice. When you do this you’ll pay less Income Tax and National Insurance on your pay.

So if you’re a basic-rate taxpayer in England, every £100 will only cost you £70 from your take-home pay. If you pay tax at the higher or additional rate, your EVCs will cost you less than this. You can start saving every month or save more whenever you like. Download and fill in an extra voluntary contributions form. On the form, tick ‘fixed term’.

If you want to stop or save less, you have to wait until the next Annual Renewal.

Keeping more flexibility

If you want to be able to vary the amount you save whenever you want, you should not save through salary sacrifice. You’ll pay less Income Tax on your pay, but not less National Insurance.

So if you’re a basic rate taxpayer in England and you save £100 from your pay, it will cost you £80 of your taxable pay. If you pay tax at the higher or additional rate, your EVCs will cost you less than this.

To start saving a regular amount from your pay, stop saving or change the amount you currently pay, download and fill in an extra voluntary contributions form. On the form, tick ‘variable’.

Extra life cover

If you die while you’re working for Unilever, your loved ones will get a cash lump sum. This is usually worth 4 times your annual pensionable earnings on the date of your death.

You can buy extra life cover to increase this amount up to 8 times your pensionable earnings.

Unilever must agree to this and you may have to provide evidence that your health is good.

Tell us who you'd like the money to go to

Voluntary serious ill-health cover

The Retirement Savings Plan pays you the pot you’ve built up so far if you’re injured or become so ill that, in Unilever’s opinion:

  • You can no longer do your job or a job that’s similar,
  • You can no longer do any paid work for any employer before you reach the age of 65, and
  • Your illness is permanent or means that you are permanently incapacitated

You can buy extra cover, called ‘voluntary serious ill-health DC benefit’ if you are an eligible employee under age 65.

Voluntary serious ill-health DC benefit pays a lump sum into the Retirement Savings Plan. You must be paying for this cover when you retire because of serious ill health.

The definition for this benefit is very strict.

As well as meeting the criteria for a serious ill-health pension, your health must mean that you are no longer able to take on any work for any employer before you reach the age of 65. You will need to provide evidence of your health and may need to agree to medical tests to get this benefit.

If you qualify, we’ll pay 25% of your pensionable salary into the Retirement Savings Plan for every year between the time that you are forced to retire until the age of 65.

You can use this money to provide extra income like you would when you retire.

Find out how you can use your Retirement Savings Plan pot

If you save more than £60,000 for pension this year you may have to pay a tax charge

The maximum you can save into all of your pensions over a year without paying extra tax is £60,000 – known as the annual allowance.

It will not affect most members. And you may not need to pay extra tax if you haven’t gone over the annual allowance in the last 3 years.

If your pension savings with Unilever do go above the £60,000 annual allowance we will write to you to tell you. If we write to you it’s your responsibility to tell HMRC that you have gone over the annual allowance and to make sure that you pay the right tax.

Inputs that count towards your allowance are:

  • Money saved into the Retirement Savings Plan
  • Extra voluntary contributions (EVCs) you make
  • Savings into any other workplace or private pensions

If your earnings, plus your Benefits Envelope, are more than £200,000 the allowance may be reduced. It may also be reduced if you've already taken pension from any defined contribution arrangement.

Find out more about the annual allowance and how it might be reduced

Use the modeller to explore your options

You can use the Unilever Benefit Choices website throughout the year to help you check your choices and use the modeller.

The modeller gives you an idea of how different choices might affect your Benefits Envelope, take-home pay and pension. To use the modeller you need to sign in through your Unilever account.

Go to Unilever Benefit Choices
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