Job advert call on pension plans

Mr Denham wants employers to help plan for quality pensions

All job adverts would have to show the combined value of salary and pension rights under a proposed new law.

Former Labour pensions minister John Denham says some employers compete for business by cutting pensions provision or making none at all.

"This bill is a small practical step which will reward good employers by helping them to recruit and retain staff," he said.

His plan, being put to MPs on Tuesday, faces a struggle to become law.

This bill will make sure that the best employers can easily be identified by potential employers John Denham Pensions Minister

Mr Denham is putting the idea forward in a 10-minute rule motion in the House of Commons.

Under the proposal, a job normally advertised at £24,000 would be shown as a combined value of £27,400 if it used a good final salary pension scheme, said Mr Denham.

That would take into account an extra £3,400 in employer pension contributions, for example.

A job paying £24,000 a year but with no employer pension contribution, would be advertised simply at £24,000.

Mr Denham said the move supported last week's Turner Report's key aim of keeping employers involved in good quality pension provision.

"This bill will make sure that the best employers can easily be identified by potential employees," he argued.