The newly appointed Thames Water CEO, Sarah Bentley, will receive a pension allowance in alignment with the firm’s workforce.

In an appointment announcement, Thames Water revealed that Bentley’s pension allowance will be 12 per cent of her annual salary of £750,000.

She will be able to participate in the company's existing annual bonus scheme up to a maximum of 120 per cent of salary, and a long-term incentive plan with an annual award up to a maximum of 200 per cent of salary.

The alignment follows numerous other companies, including Rolls-Royce and Sainsbury’s, taking similar action on their executives’ pensions.

Executive pensions have faced increased scrutiny since September 2019, with the Investment Association cracking down on companies that have failed to align executive pension pay with their workforce.

The IA has told companies that they must pay all executive directors the same pension contribution levels as the majority of their workforce by the end of 2022, or risk shareholder action.

Meanwhile, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the board at Unite have agreed to a 30 per cent reduction to salaries and pension contributions for executive directors and 10-20 per cent for senior management staff.

The reductions will be effective for a four-month period, from 1 April 2020.

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