Nutricia is to replace its self-administered, trust-based money purchase plan with a group personal pension (GPP), because of concerns about the increasing regulatory burden placed on trustees and age discrimination legislation.
The changes, which also apply to Nutricia's sister company SHS Holdings, are due to come into effect in April and will mean the employer's contributions, that are based on employee age, will comply with current age discrimination regulations.
Under the new GPP, the baby food manufacturer will make the same level of pension contribution to all employees. It is expected that the GPP, which is being provided by Friends Provident and communicated to staff by Secondsight, will help reduce administration costs and scheme complexity.
The firm began communicating the new scheme to its 900 staff in February through group presentations and one-to-one sessions with Secondsight's advisers. The process will continue throughout March and will include presentations at Nutricia's main sites in Liverpool and Trowbridge.
Helen Robinson, compensation and benefits adviser at Nutricia, said: "Following consultations with our employees, we realised few of them understood the former pension scheme. One of our main considerations was therefore to work with a consultancy that would be able to provide individual pension advice to every member of staff."
The company has also decided to extend employer-funded income protection to all its staff. Previously, only senior employees received the perk.