Roche is introducing flexible benefits for its UK workforce to increase employee motivation and remain competitive when competing against larger employers for staff.

The flex scheme, provided by Thomsons Online Benefits, is set to go live in January 2009 and will initially be offered to the 1,900 UK-based staff in the company's pharmaceutical division. It is intended that the scheme will be rolled out to the rest of the organisation's 2,700 strong UK workforce at some point.

Douglas Ross, corporate HR manager at Roche, said: "We want to remain at the competitive edge in the war for talent. Offering this scheme will help ensure we are up there with other leading companies in terms of benefits."

Called My Total Roche, the scheme allows staff to make choices in three key areas of their benefits packages - My Lifestyle, My Health and My Security - by flexing up and down core benefits.

Options include buying five extra days' holiday, making charitable donations, and upgrading private medical insurance by two levels.