Employers have voiced their approval of the Association of British Insurers' (ABI) scathing response to May's white paper on pensions reform.

The ABI's reaction to the plans warned that employers with generous existing schemes should be exempt from the white paper's proposals as they might be tempted to level down their organisation's pension contribution offerings to the suggested 3 per cent minimum.

Graham Brown (pictured), head of people support services at Barnardo's, said some organisations might view the government's proposals as an excuse to cut costs. "There [may be] unscrupulous financial directors who think that they can save money."

But organisations which do try to save money by lowering pension contributions may meet resistance from staff and be perceived as less attractive employers. "It will be extremely poor PR for [any organisation] involved and members of staff will no doubt highlight these issues to management as they arise," added Brown.