Normally, companies make a minimum pension contribution each year, and must make the deficit-reduction contributions only if their pension funds develop significant, lasting deficits.
At the end of the calendar year, Lucent will have to make a separate pension calculation, using a different methodology.
At worst, having to make a large pension contribution can push a company with insufficient cash flow into bankruptcy.
The Ford Motor Company plans to make a $700 million pension contribution for overseas workers by the end of 2003, the vice chairman, Allan Gilmour, said yesterday.
That, combined with the anticipated $4.1 billion from the sale of Hughes, would make a total pension contribution of $18.5 billion for 2003.
Danny Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is expected to make a statement on pension reform to the House of Commons today.
Over the past two years British pension funds have lost 20% of their value.Another deterrent to defined-benefit plans is a new accounting standard that will make a company's pension costs crystal-clear.
And he plans to make a start on pension reform.The thorniest issue he faces is fracking, a controversial drilling technique in which high-pressure water and chemicals are pumped into a bore-hole to ease the extraction of natural gas.
When you make a contribution to a pension, the money that goes in is not taxed.
At the moment, for example, if you make a contribution to a pension scheme, it reduces your income for income tax purposes, but not for National Insurance.
He added: "Costings and difficult questions are glossed over in the rush to make a 'guarantee' that pensions will still be paid on time.
