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Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
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Program Perspectives on Defined Benefit Plans

"FROZEN" DEFINED-BENEFIT PLANS

http://www.bls.gov/opub/perspectives/program_perspectives_vol2_issue3.pdf

[full-text, 4 pages]

 

[excerpt]

…

This issue of ProgramPerspectives focuses on defined benefit retirement plans that are

frozen.

 

Twenty percent of private industry workers and 79 percent of State and local government

workers participated in a defi nedbenefit retirement plan in March 2009. Defi ned benefi t plans provide

employees with guaranteed retirement benefi ts that are based on a benefi t formula. Of those

that participated in defi ned benefit plans, 19 percent of private industry workers and 10 percent

of State and local government workers were in frozen plans. The remaining 81 percent of private

industry defi ned-benefi t plan participants and 90 percent of State and local government defi nedbenefi

t plan participants were in open plans, which are active plans available to current and new employees.

...

Frequency of frozen plans

 

Among private industry occupational groups, the percent of employees participating in defi nedbenefi

t plans that were frozen plans ranged from 8 percent for natural resources, construction, and maintenance

occupations to 22 percent for management, professional, and related occupations. Published estimates

for workers in frozen plans are also available by employment size. Establishments employing

between 100 and 499 workers had 23 percent of workers participating in frozen plans, and workers in

establishments with fewer than 50 employees had 11 percent.

 

Among all private industry workers participating in defined-benefit plans, nonunion workers had a

higher percent of participants in frozen plans (24 percent) than their

union counterparts (10 percent). Also, participants in the lowest 10

percent of the earnings’ range were more likely to be in frozen plans

than participants in the top 10-percent earnings category—42 percent compared with 22 percent.

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This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

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Stuart Basefsky                   
Director, IWS News Bureau                
Institute for Workplace Studies 
Cornell/ILR School                        
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             
New York, NY 10016                        
                                   
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  
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