PwC company car row accelerates

PricewaterhouseCoopers faced accusations of unequal treatment after it emerged that former-Coopers & Lybrand employees will pay up to #150 more a month than their ex-Price Waterhouse colleagues for company cars.

The new PwC Choices scheme, introduced at the beginning of this month, seeks to harmonise the benefits allowances for both sides. But, already, some ex-Coopers staff with lease arrangements made under the old scheme have reacted angrily to the changes.

One said: ‘There remains an obvious injustice. While I can understand managers must keep their cars until the lease expires, in most cases, the current lease cost will be much lower than travel allowance. Why is this sum not available to me as it would be if I was ex-PW or ordering my car now?’

The merger has revealed differences between the two sides’ car allowance schemes with Coopers staff generally paying more for than PW people under its Flex scheme.

Choices cars are more expensive than under Flex, but insiders maintain they are still cheaper than the Coopers scheme. Those who recently took delivery of their cars under the old schemes may have to keep their cars until 2002.

‘For some people it is rather bad luck,’ said PwC. ‘We don’t think this will be the case for very many people.’