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: Selected attributes

Table 6. Defined benefit frozen retirement plans:1 Selected attributes,
private industry workers,  National Compensation Survey, March 2015

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

Characteristics

Time since plan closed to new workers or
stopped accruing benefits2

1 year

2 to 5 years

Greater than
5 years

All workers

3

23

74

Worker characteristics

      

Management, professional, and related

1

26

73

    Management, business, and financial

–

–

73

    Professional and related

2

25

73

Service

–

–

58

    Protective service

–

–

97

Sales and office

3

27

70

    Sales and related

–

7

93

    Office and administrative support

3

33

63

Natural resources, construction, and maintenance

3

29

68

    Construction, extraction, farming, fishing, and
     forestry

–

–

62

    Installation, maintenance, and repair

3

29

69

Production, transportation, and material moving

–

–

85

    Production

–

–

81

    Transportation and material moving

–

–

94

Full time

3

24

73

Part time

–

–

81

Union

9

29

62

Nonunion

–

–

77

Average wage within the following categories:3

      

    Lowest 25 percent

–

–

81

        Lowest 10 percent

–

–

90

    Second 25 percent

–

–

68

    Third 25 percent

3

20

77

    Highest 25 percent

2

25

73

        Highest 10 percent

1

21

77

Establishment characteristics

      

Goods-producing industries

3

19

78

    Manufacturing

3

19

77

Service-providing industries

3

25

72

    Trade, transportation, and utilities

2

10

88

        Wholesale trade

–

–

83

        Retail trade

–

–

93

        Transportation and warehousing

–

–

98

        Utilities

–

–

60

    Information

–

–

71

    Financial activities

–

–

68

        Finance and insurance

–

–

66

            Credit intermediation and related activities

–

44

56

            Insurance carriers and related activities

–

–

79

        Real estate and rental and leasing

–

–

100

    Professional and business services

–

–

86

        Professional and technical services

–

–

92

    Education and health services

–

–

54

        Educational services

–

51

49

            Junior colleges, colleges, and universities

–

–

52

        Health care and social assistance

–

–

54

    Other services

–

74

–

1 to 99 workers

–

–

67

    1 to 49 workers

–

–

66

    50 to 99 workers

–

30

70

100 workers or more

3

22

76

    100 to 499 workers

2

18

80

    500 workers or more

3

24

72

Geographic areas

      

Northeast

–

–

68

    New England

–

–

66

    Middle Atlantic

–

–

69

South

1

18

81

    South Atlantic

–

–

78

    East South Central

–

–

78

    West South Central

–

–

88

Midwest

2

18

80

    East North Central

–

–

82

    West North Central

2

21

78

West

6

32

62

    Mountain

–

–

76

    Pacific

7

36

57

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

2The length of time is calculated based on the year the plan was modified. For example, plans frozen
after January 2014 are included in the "1 year" column. Those frozen between 2010 and 2013 are included in
the "2 to 5 year" column and plans frozen before 2010 are included in the "Greater than 5 years" column.

3Surveyed 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.