U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Department of Labor Logo United States Department of Labor
Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Employee Benefits Survey
EBS EBS Program Links

Defined benefit frozen retirement plans: Plan alternatives

Table 7. Defined benefit frozen retirement plans:1 Plan alternatives, civilian workers,2 National Compensation
Survey, March 2015

(All workers participating in frozen defined benefit plans = 100 percent)

Characteristics

No
alternative to
frozen plans

Alternatives
to frozen
plans

Alternatives to frozen plans3

Modified
existing
defined
benefit plan

New defined
benefit plan

Enhanced
existing
defined
contribution
plan

New defined
contribution
plan

Other

All workers

5

95

55

15

14

23

[4]

Worker characteristics

              

Management, professional, and related

3

97

62

15

12

22

[4]

    Management, business, and financial

6

94

39

21

21

24

–

    Professional and related

3

97

69

12

10

21

[4]

        Teachers:
           Primary, secondary, and special education
            school teachers

–

100

96

4

–

18

–

Service

3

97

82

5

3

22

–

    Protective service

2

98

91

6

–

22

–

Sales and office

10

90

44

14

19

23

1

    Sales and related

22

78

10

7

33

34

–

    Office and administrative support

8

92

49

15

16

21

1

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance

2

98

41

26

25

13

–

    Installation, maintenance, and repair

3

97

26

32

32

14

–

Production, transportation, and material moving

9

91

22

24

17

38

–

    Transportation and material moving

6

94

38

22

–

36

–

Full time

5

95

55

15

14

23

[4]

Part time

10

90

57

10

8

22

–

Union

1

99

74

14

6

21

–

Nonunion

8

92

42

16

19

24

[4]

Average wage within the following categories:5

              

    Lowest 25 percent

14

86

55

8

10

21

–

        Lowest 10 percent

32

68

36

–

–

14

–

    Second 25 percent

6

94

60

11

10

25

–

    Third 25 percent

6

94

52

16

12

26

[4]

    Highest 25 percent

3

97

55

17

17

20

–

        Highest 10 percent

3

97

54

17

20

23

–

Establishment characteristics

              

Goods-producing industries

6

94

7

28

33

34

–

Service-providing industries

5

95

62

13

11

21

[4]

    Education and health services

2

98

81

7

4

20

1

        Educational services:
         Elementary and secondary schools

–

100

96

4

–

17

–

        Health care and social assistance

10

90

35

–

16

31

2

            Hospitals

12

88

34

8

15

33

–

1 to 99 workers

6

94

35

18

22

23

–

    1 to 49 workers

7

93

29

18

28

22

–

    50 to 99 workers

6

94

46

18

–

24

–

100 workers or more

5

95

59

14

12

23

[4]

    100 to 499 workers

9

91

46

21

15

24

–

    500 workers or more

3

97

64

11

11

23

–

Geographic areas

              

Northeast

5

95

57

8

16

27

–

    New England

6

94

57

8

25

10

–

    Middle Atlantic

5

95

58

8

13

33

–

South

5

95

59

16

10

25

–

    South Atlantic

6

94

52

16

14

40

–

    East South Central

5

95

69

–

5

–

–

    West South Central

4

96

63

16

8

11

–

Midwest

7

93

45

20

13

25

–

    East North Central

6

94

46

19

11

29

–

West

3

97

58

16

17

15

–

    Pacific

3

97

57

17

19

14

–

1Plans closed to new workers or plans that cease accruals for some or all plan participants.

2Includes workers in the private nonfarm economy except those in private households, and workers in the public sector, except the federal government. See Technical
Note for further explanation.

3The sum of the individual components may be greater than the total because some employers offer more than one alternative.

4Less than 0.5.

5Surveyed occupations are classified into wage categories based on the average wage for the occupation, which may include workers with earnings both above and
below the threshold.  The categories were formed using percentile estimates generated using wage data for March 2015.


Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals. Dash indicates no workers in this category or data did not meet publication criteria. For
definitions of major plans, key provisions, and related terms, see the "Glossary of Employee Benefit Terms" at www.bls.gov/ncs/ebs/glossary20142015.htm .