The 13th AVS pension and SME pension plans: update the coordination explanation

A new AVS payment can affect an old plan formula

The first 13th AVS old-age pension is due in December 2026. On 12 June 2026, the Federal Council announced an OPP 2 adaptation effective 1 August 2026 so that this additional old-age pension is expressly excluded from a specific calculation that can limit combined AVS and occupational old-age benefits to 85% of the last AVS salary. The aim is to avoid the new payment causing an unintended occupational-benefit reduction. Employers should not translate this into a promise that every employee receives the same net amount; plan rules and individual benefits still differ.

Check rules, systems and explanations together

Ask the pension institution whether regulations, administration systems and retirement projections already reflect the amendment. Verify how the plan treats coordination, overcompensation, bridging pensions and extra-mandatory benefits. Payroll staff should know that the 13th AVS pension is paid by the first pillar, not as a thirteenth occupational-pension instalment. Employee communications need a clear boundary between statutory AVS information and the fund’s own certificate. Use the pension institution’s written wording rather than creating an employer calculation that may omit disability, survivor or other coordination rules.

A hypothetical retirement briefing

A Geneva SME has three employees retiring in 2027. Its annual presentation previously showed combined AVS and pension estimates based on twelve AVS payments. The broker asks the fund to update the explanation and confirm the ordinance treatment. HR removes an old spreadsheet that accidentally counted the 13th payment in the limitation formula and gives each employee a fund contact for a personal projection. One employee still has a different outcome because of extra-mandatory plan terms. The example shows governance, not a calculation of an individual pension.

Simple messaging can become misleading

Saying “the 13th AVS pension never affects LPP” is too broad; the ordinance change addresses a defined calculation. Giving no information avoids overpromising but leaves employees vulnerable to confusion. Employer-made projections feel helpful while creating reliance if assumptions are wrong. Fund-issued figures are more authoritative for the plan yet may not cover household tax or foreign residence. The employer should communicate the rule change, direct personal questions correctly and avoid financial guarantees. Good governance is accurate routing, not turning HR into a pension authority.

Add the change to the annual review

Place the ordinance note on the pension-governance agenda, obtain written confirmation from the institution and archive the updated regulation or explanatory note. Test retirement templates, intranet pages and adviser slides for outdated twelve-versus-thirteen assumptions. Train HR to distinguish AVS applications, pension elections and tax questions. Invite near-retirement staff to request personal statements early and remind them that benefit choices have deadlines. Revisit after any further implementing guidance. The work is modest, but it prevents a new national benefit from being explained through an obsolete company worksheet.

The employer should also check payroll interfaces and retirement dates around December, because the AVS payment calendar and occupational-pension payroll are separate. A reconciliation sample for one fictional employee can expose double counting without using real personal data. Any discrepancy should return to the fund or compensation office rather than being manually corrected by HR.