Friday, June 3, 2011

Vodafone awarded top pension recognition

Operator awarded the Pension Quality Mark (PQM) Plus award in recognition of top class contribution scheme

Vodafone has been awarded the Pension Quality Mark (PQM) by the National Association of Pensions Funds (NAPF). It is the 100th employer in the UK to receive this accreditation.

The operator was awarded the PQM PLUS award meaning its total contributions are at least 10 per cent out of 15 per cent of employees annual wages.

The award also means Vodafone has “good quality governance and low charges” as well as “clear and ongoing communication with scheme members”.

Vodafone Group head of pensions Geoff McKenzie said the award showed the operator was committed to looking after the long term future of its employees.

Our company pension scheme remains a vital component in our benefits package to retain and attract the very best people,” McKenzie said.

The recognition comes less than a month after Vodafone announced it would set up a staff bonus scheme following the posting of strong revenues for the year ending May 17 2011.

A Vodafone spokesperson said at the time: “ Employees will be receiving bonuses this year as a result of the performance of the UK business, but we can’t say what the payout will be yet, as the year end salary review is still going on.

In October 2008 Vodafone came under fire when it was revealed Deloitte had lost a laptop containing the personal pension data of thousands of employees.

The laptop was stolen from external auditor Deloitte during a statutory pension scheme audit and also contained employee’s surnames and initials, employee numbers and grades, as well as pensionable salary, earnings and contribution information.

Vodafone at the time alerted effected employees in a letter explaining the incident and also provided advice in how to avoid identity fraud.