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

Standard Errors
Defined benefit retirement plans: Open, soft and hard frozen plans

Table 5. Standard errors for defined benefit retirement plans: Open, soft and hard
freeze plans, private industry workers,  National Compensation Survey, March 2015

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

Characteristics

Open plans1

Soft freeze2

Hard freeze3

All
participants
still accruing
benefits

Some
participants
still accruing
benefits

All workers

1.6

1.2

0.5

0.9

Worker characteristics

        

Management, professional, and related

2.3

1.9

1.0

1.0

    Management, business, and financial

3.4

2.5

0.9

1.6

    Professional and related

3.1

2.6

1.1

1.2

Service

3.8

3.2

–

–

    Protective service

10.7

–

–

–

Sales and office

2.3

1.6

0.6

1.5

    Sales and related

4.1

3.0

1.5

2.2

    Office and administrative support

2.3

1.6

0.5

1.7

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance

3.1

2.6

–

–

    Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and
     forestry

1.6

1.4

–

–

    Installation, maintenance, and repair

4.2

4.1

–

–

Production, transportation, and material moving

3.1

2.4

0.8

2.4

    Production

5.3

4.1

–

–

    Transportation and material moving

3.0

2.3

0.6

2.2

Full time

1.6

1.2

0.5

1.0

Part time

2.6

2.3

–

–

Union

1.8

1.7

–

–

Nonunion

1.9

1.5

0.7

1.2

Average wage within the following categories:4

        

    Lowest 25 percent

3.5

3.1

0.4

1.8

        Lowest 10 percent

4.5

4.2

–

–

    Second 25 percent

2.3

1.7

0.7

1.8

    Third 25 percent

2.1

1.7

0.6

1.5

    Highest 25 percent

2.0

1.7

0.9

0.8

        Highest 10 percent

3.0

2.7

1.5

1.5

Establishment characteristics

        

Goods-producing industries

3.1

2.6

0.8

2.0

    Construction

2.1

–

–

–

    Manufacturing

4.0

3.2

1.2

3.0

Service-providing industries

1.8

1.4

0.6

0.9

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

2.0

1.7

–

–

        Wholesale trade

5.8

5.0

–

–

        Retail trade

3.7

3.2

–

–

        Transportation and warehousing

3.8

3.3

–

–

        Utilities

4.2

4.4

–

–

    Information

–

4.5

–

3.6

    Financial activities

2.3

1.7

1.0

1.8

        Finance and insurance

2.4

1.6

0.5

1.8

            Credit intermediation and related activities

3.8

2.5

0.8

3.1

            Insurance carriers and related activities

3.2

2.2

0.8

2.6

        Real estate and rental and leasing

12.5

–

–

–

    Professional and business services

4.3

3.3

–

–

        Professional and technical services

7.0

–

–

–

    Education and health services

4.5

3.3

0.4

2.2

        Educational services

3.9

3.0

–

–

            Junior colleges, colleges, and universities

3.7

–

–

–

        Health care and social assistance

5.4

3.9

–

–

    Leisure and hospitality

5.6

–

–

–

        Accommodation and food services

0.0

–

–

–

    Other services

8.8

–

–

–

1 to 99 workers

2.7

2.2

0.7

1.5

    1 to 49 workers

3.6

2.9

1.1

2.1

    50 to 99 workers

3.6

3.0

–

–

100 workers or more

1.8

1.4

0.6

1.1

    100 to 499 workers

2.9

2.2

1.4

1.7

    500 workers or more

2.0

1.7

0.4

1.1

Geographic areas

        

Northeast

3.3

2.2

0.9

1.7

    New England

6.9

5.5

–

–

    Middle Atlantic

3.6

2.2

1.1

2.0

South

2.6

2.3

0.5

1.3

    South Atlantic

3.7

2.9

0.6

1.9

    East South Central

5.4

4.5

–

–

    West South Central

4.4

4.2

1.1

1.8

Midwest

3.0

2.4

0.6

2.2

    East North Central

3.7

2.3

0.7

2.6

    West North Central

4.0

5.5

–

–

West

3.9

3.0

–

–

    Mountain

6.0

3.6

–

–

    Pacific

4.8

3.8

–

–

1Plans open to new participants.

2New employees are not allowed in the plan. Benefit accruals may continue for existing participants.

3Participants in these plans stop accruing benefits on the date the plan is frozen. The benefit the employee receives is
calculated as of the day the plan was frozen.

4Surveyed 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: 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.