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You may have heard that all UK businesses are required to enrol ‘eligible employees’ into a workplace pension and that there is a minimum level of contributions required into that scheme. This is known as auto-enrolment (AE). 

Roche uses the DC Section to meet its AE obligations. 

If you stop paying contributions into the DC Section in future but remain a Roche employee, we may be required to enrol you back into the Fund. This re-enrolment exercise usually takes place around every three years and the next one is scheduled for 2025.

If you stop working for Roche, or opt out of the Fund, you’ll receive a letter from the administrator, Fidelity International, setting out your options for your pension account. 

These include:

• leaving your account invested in the Fund until you’re ready to take it; or
• transferring all or some of your account to another registered pension scheme (such as your new employer’s scheme). 

If you leave your account in the Fund, you’ll still be able to manage your investments through PlanViewer, but you won’t be able to pay any more money into your account. This factsheet has more information about your options on leaving.

If you opt out of the Fund within one calendar month of being automatically enrolled (say because you’ve decided you don’t want to start saving for the future), you’ll receive a refund of whatever you’ve paid in, less tax and National Insurance. 

Transfers and scams 

You can transfer some or all of your pension account out of the Fund at any time after you’ve left, up to one year before your normal retirement age (65). If you want to do this, please contact Fidelity International.

However, please be alert to the risk of pension scams when transferring money out of the Fund. Scammers might claim they can help you access your money before the age of 55, or they might promise you very high ‘guaranteed’ investment returns.

To help protect pension savers, the Pensions Regulator has introduced a new step in the transfer process, whereby Fidelity International must offer to book a scams guidance appointment for you with Pension Wise, a Government service run by MoneyHelper. These appointments can take place over the phone or in person. If you don’t want to take the free guidance, you just need to let Fidelity International know that you wish to ‘opt out’ of your Pension Wise appointment.

Find out more on how to avoid a pension scam here. 

If you’re temporarily absent from work because of ill health, you’ll remain a member of the DC Section and continue to pay contributions (at the Company’s discretion). In some cases of unpaid temporary absence, your contributions will stop but, with the Company’s consent, you may be able to repay any missing contributions into your pension account when you return to work. 

Subject to the Trustee’s discretion, you may be able to take the money in your pension account earlier than the minimum retirement age. In this case, if you still work for Roche in the UK, you should raise a ticket in the People Portal and you will be guided through the process. If you are a deferred member, please contact Fidelity on 0800 3 68 68 68.

The Company provides a separate Group Income Protection scheme, which provides a monthly income to employees who become seriously ill, subject to certain conditions. You can find out more in the DC Section member booklet.

*Please note, the minimum retirement age of 55 is rising to 57 from 6 April 2028; this is set by the Government as the earliest age most pension savers can take their retirement benefits. Some members may have a protected early retirement age of 50.

The Fund provides a lump sum payment as well as pensions for your loved ones if you die in service (i.e., while working for Roche).

The death-in-service lump sum is worth 4x your basic contribution salary. 

The Trustee will use the money in your pension account to provide a pension for your spouse or civil partner and/or any dependent children. If there’s not enough in your account to provide the minimum pension specified in the Fund’s Rules, then the Company will top it up.

Trustee discretion

The Trustee has discretion to decide who will receive any cash sums and pensions payable from the Fund. They’re not bound by your wishes but will take them into account. When you first join Roche, it’s important to complete an Expression of wish form – and keep it up to date as your personal circumstances change. This form, which is available through My Total Roche, tells the Trustee who you would like to receive any cash sum payable from the DC Section in the event of your death. 

You might also want to complete a Nomination form, which is available to download from My Total Roche. This form allows you to nominate a dependant or dependants to receive your benefits. 

You can find out more about the benefits payable on death in the DC Section member booklet.

Restrictions on tax-free death benefits 

The Lump Sum and Death Benefit Allowance (LSDBA) restricts the amount of lump sum death benefits that can be paid tax free from all registered pension schemes to £1,073,100 (unless you have LTA protection, in which case a higher limit may apply).