One in five respondents have seen employees wishing to opt out of pension schemes as a result of this year’s new tax regime, according to research by actuarial firm Punter Southall.
And more than 40% thought that senior management would be less engaged in schemes over the longer term as a result of changes which came into force in April this year.
The High Earners and Contributors Survey 2011 reveals that 90% have already communicated or intend to communicate with individuals about the confirmed changes, and more than 10% reported individual advice and projections being provided and paid for by the employer.
Additionally, 24% indicated that they still have a lot of work to do to adjust for the tax changes and 5% are not at all ready, with 62% describing themselves as either fully prepared or almost ready.
Where overall remuneration packages have been reviewed to allow for the tax changes, the most common option is to provide additional salary in lieu of future pension accrual, as reported by over 20% of respondents.
However, changes have tended to occur in the overall remuneration package rather than within the pension scheme, with only 8% of respondents having redesigned any of their pension arrangements.
Read more stories on pension tax relief changes
