KEY POINTS:
Telecom's new chief executive, Paul Reynolds, has a gold-plated employment deal, with perks including $100,000 a year for accommodation costs and 10 business-class flights a year home to Britain for him and his family.
Details of Dr Reynolds' employment contract have been made public under strict rules imposed by the New York Stock Exchange.
Shares in Telecom, NZ's biggest listed company, are traded on the New York exchange, allowing Americans to invest in the firm.
Among documents filed with the exchange as part of Telecom's annual report is a copy of Dr Reynolds' employment contract, signed in late June.
It includes:
* A base salary of $1.75 million, plus a $1.75 million annual performance incentive. Dr Reynolds also is eligible for a long-term incentive of up to $1.75 million in performance share rights - a package totalling nearly $2 million more than that of his predecessor, Theresa Gattung.
* To compensate Scottish-born Dr Reynolds for having to move from Britain, Telecom will pay for 10 business-class flights a year between New Zealand and the UK for him and his family for the first three years of his employment.
* The company will also meet all relocation costs and pay $100,000 a year towards accommodation costs for the first two years. This will be reviewed at the end of that time.
* Telecom has offered to pay Dr Reynolds up to $20,000 towards costs associated with getting legal advice on the terms of his contract, and $6000 a year for taxation advice for the first two years of the contract.
Dr Reynolds is expected to be joined in New Zealand by his wife and youngest son, leaving his twin daughters in Britain to start their tertiary studies.
He is required to give six months' notice if he resigns, although that falls to three months if Telecom sacks him.
Dr Reynolds starts at Telecom on October 1.
Employment law expert John Haigh, QC, said yesterday this was the sort of package needed to attract someone of international calibre.
"It sounds extraordinarily high compared to your average CEO in this country, but compared to packages in Australia or Europe or America it's not."
