Staff
are losing out as top executives are rewarded lucrative pension schemes that
are denied to workers, according to new research.
A
survey by Towers Perrin, the global management consultant, found that almost 70
per cent of FTSE 350 companies are still offering new executives defined
benefit schemes, under which they are guaranteed a level of income in their
retirement, usually based on two-thirds of their salary.
Employers
are increasingly offering employees defined contribution schemes, which accrue
over the workers’ career and are vulnerable to changes in the stock market.
Research
by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has found that the number
of companies offering defined benefit schemes to those not at executive levels
has dropped 40 per cent in the last 12 months.
