Vodafone eyes pension closure - report

Thu 26 Nov, 2009 02:46

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L) is planning to close its 755 million pounds final salary pension scheme to around 4,000 of it's employees, the Financial Times reported in its Thursday editions.

Vodafone is following several other high profile employers in blocking current workers from earning further retirement benefits that are a portion of their final salary.

The world's largest cellphone operator by revenue, sent a letter to staff this week, informing them of a consultation exercise, ahead of a planned closure of the defined benefit scheme in April, the paper said.

Vodafone said the company was making the move because of the rising cost of defined benefit pensions, the FT added.

(Reporting by Michael Taylor; editing by Carol Bishopric)