Uk's biggest private employer, Tesco, is going to change its employee pension scheme since 1 June 2012. 172,000 employees contributing to the corporate pension fund will qualify for the full amount of pension two years later than at present - at the age of 67 years instead of the 65 years so far. The full amount of pension will also be reduced as the company changes the way of measuring inflation.
Tesco considers this step necessary if the pension sheme is to be sustainable in the future. Tesco staff will be able to retire at 55 years but they must allow for lower pensions. Statutory retirement age was abolished in Britain last year.
The new calculation of the amount of pensions at Tesco since June will take into account the rising costs of living. Inflation will be calculated using the consumer price index (CPI) rather than the present retail price index (RPI). This will reduce the pension of employees older than 67 years by about 20 percent a month.
Similar changes have taken place in several other large British companies, some of which even abolished the pension funds for their employees at all. Tesco remains one of only 4 FTSE 100 companies (the largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange) that still offer these benefits. Moreover, it still hires new employees.
-Kk-