UK staff at National Australia Bank (NAB) have agreed to changes to their pensions schemes to try to close the £160m hole in the pension fund.
NAB said that from 1 April, the defined benefit schemes would move to a ‘career average’ structure, where staff earn “blocks” of pension every year. This will affect staff working at Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks.
“Rather than receiving a pension based solely on a final salary at retirement, the proposed structure builds pension benefits year-on-year based on a member’s annual salary,” a spokesman said.
The bank will make a one-off payment of £100m into its pension funds as part of the deal.
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NAB put the issue of whether to move to a career average pension scheme to a vote of its 9,000 employees in the UK in January.
At the time, the bank admitted that such a move would reduce the entitlements of some staff but said it would make the schemes more secure.
