The other half are prepared to inform people them's the breaks.

More than half of global banks said they would increase salaries to offset the effect of European Union bonus caps, according to a study by human resources consultants Towers Watson & Co. The poll, of more than 150 human resources employees attending a conference in London last month, found that 7 percent thought the EU rules would be successful in reducing pay across the financial services industry. About 53 percent said they would increase pay. Finance workers will also receive more training, increased pension contributions and flexible working programs as a result of the bonus rules, the report said.

Banks “are aware that when the EU bonus cap comes into force, many of their employees are going to receive overall lower pay and they recognize the need to make up for this shortfall in a number of different ways,” Mark Shelton, a managing director at Towers Watson, said in a statement. The EU’s European Banking Authority released draft rules last month increasing the scope of rules that block bonuses of more than double fixed pay. The EBA defined anyone earning more than 500,000 euros ($664,000) as a “risk-taker,” ensnaring them in the rule.

[Bloomberg]