6 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999

AVY D. GRAHAM

PAUL SCHEIBLE

BLS Retirement Plan

Surveys Look to the

Future

For many years, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has estimated the frequency of employer-sponsored retirement

plans and described their prevailing plan provisions.

These efforts, ever changing in the past, will experience

more change at the turn of the millennium.

Avy D. Graham and Paul Scheible are economists

in the Division of Compensation Data Analysis

and Planning, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telephone: (202) 606-6202

E-mail: Graham_A@bls.gov

 Scheible_P@bls.gov

Employer-sponsored retirement

benefits in the United States

have been evolving since the

second half of the 19th century. The

earliest plans, which were created at

the discretion of the employer, were

pensions intended to sustain workers

who were forced to retire because of

disability. They did not have survivor

benefits, nor were employees vested

with rights to a retirement benefit.

Generally, benefits were based on the

employee’s length of service and earnings in the last years of work. Although modern pension plans usually

still compute benefits based on a measure of length of service and earnings

in the last years, plan benefits have

been extended to all covered employees meeting age and service requirements, not just disabled employees.

Moreover, all covered employees have

a vested right to a benefit after meeting a specified minimum period of

service.

The basic provisions of the most

current defined benefit pension

plans—the services and benefits received by plan participants—have

been fairly stable over the last 15 to

20 years. However, there has been a

dramatic increase in the use of defined

contribution retirement plans to

supplement or supplant defined benefit pension plans.1

The changes in employer-sponsored retirement plan provisions and

coverage have been well documented

by the Bureau of Labor Statistics

(BLS). BLS has captured data on retirement plan incidence and provisions, off and on, since 1921. From

the 1950s through the 1970s, BLS periodically published the details of traditional defined benefit pension plans

in the series, Digest of Selected Pension Plans. Other Bureau publications

have documented defined contribution

retirement plan provisions.2 Since

1979, the Employee Benefits Survey

(EBS) program has published extensive data on retirement plan provisions.3

This is the second of a series of three

related articles that appear in this issue of Compensation and Working

Conditions. Together, they trace the

Bureau’s Employee Benefits Survey

from its inception and explain how it

will become part of the Bureau’s National Compensation Survey.
 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999 7

BLS Retirement Plan Surveys

This article initially identifies the

underlying catalysts of change in retirement plan provisions and coverage

since 1979. It then cites examples of

specific changes to EBS detail brought

about by these catalysts. This background is essential to understanding

the changes planned for capturing and

publishing retirement plan provisions

as part of the Bureau’s new National

Compensation Survey (NCS) which,

after 1998, began absorbing the EBS

function of surveying the incidence

and provisions of employee benefit

plans.4 Finally, this article introduces

the planned design of retirement statistics in the NCS, and summarizes

how they differ from those of the EBS.

Changes in the retirement benefit provisions surveyed, 1979-98

In the earliest version of the EBS

(1979), although a virtual cornucopia

of retirement benefit provisions were

captured, published estimates for private pensions were restricted to the

methods used to compute benefit formulas and the age and service requirements for normal retirement. The intent of this effort was to amass

sufficient data to produce estimates of

the intrinsic worth of plans to make

comparisons of Federal and private

employee compensation.5 Although

published estimates were limited, the

captured data covered the gamut of

design issues and included all of the

following.

• Age and service requirements

for normal retirement

• Type of benefit formula

• Details of normal retirement benefit formulas (including definitions of earnings, integration

with Social Security benefits,

and limits on service credits)

• Provisions for minimum and

maximum benefits

• Provisions for service after normal retirement age

• Supplemental payments to benefit annuities

• Cost-of-living adjustments to

benefit annuities

• Early and disability retirement

requirements and benefit formula details

• Details of joint and survivor

annuity options

• Death benefits before and after

retirement

• Vesting

In the years since 1979, surveyed

details have been streamlined, expanded and changed in other ways.

Moreover, the amount of detail published has greatly increased. These

changes in the amount of retirement

plan detail—captured and published—

reflect a variety of influences, the most

important being the following.

• Changes in legal mandates that

affect plan provisions, and consequently, the details captured

and published

• Evolution in plan provisions and

economic factors that gave rise

to new data needs, or made existing needs obsolete

• Identification of audiences and

their data needs

• Changes in the scope of the survey, which increased the amount

of data that could be captured

and published

• Efforts to modernize and streamline the EBS program methods

and outputs

Legal mandates

Since 1979, new and changing legal

mandates—laws or regulations—have

affected the provisions found in retirement plans. Sometimes, the effects of

these mandates dramatically changed

the published estimates, but not the

surveyed plan provisions themselves,

such as vesting of benefits. In addition, enabling legislation, in concert

with economic factors, increased the

need for additional plan provisions to

be included in the survey, such as those

for defined contribution retirement

plans.

Although the details EBS captured

on vesting requirements have not

changed substantially in the years

since 1979, the published estimates do

reflect the changes in the legal mandates for vesting. Minimum vesting

requirements were set in l974, with the

passage of the Employee Retirement

Income Security Act (ERISA). ERISA

required “cliff” vesting (100-percent

vesting) after 10 years of service, or

“graded” vesting, in which a portion

of the benefit was vested over time,

with complete vesting after 15 years

of service regardless of age. In 1980,

the first year vesting details were published by the EBS, 70 percent of participants were fully vested after 10

years of service at any age under cliff

vesting arrangements; and 5 percent

were fully vested after 15 years of service under graded arrangements.6 In

l986, the Tax Reform Act decreased

service requirements for cliff and

graded vesting. Benefits became

vested more rapidly. Prior to l986, 69

percent of participants were in plans

that provided cliff vesting that resulted

in full vesting after 10 years, regardless of age. By 1995, the service requirement for full vesting under cliff

arrangements had been reduced to 5

years for 87 percent of participants. In

1986, 13 percent of all participants

were in plans that vested benefits with

graded arrangements, and for almost

all of them, benefits were not fully

vested until after 10 years. In 1995,

only 3 percent of participants were in

plans with graded vesting arrangements, and virtually all were fully

vested in 7 years or less.

Since the passage of ERISA, many

changes to tax laws and regulations

have increased the complexity of administering defined benefit pension

plans, and, at the same time, increased

the opportunities for employees to defer taxes on current income—initially

through deferred profit-sharing arrangements and then through thrift

plans. From the late 1970s through

the mid-1980s, relevant legislation
8 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999

included the Revenue Act of 1978, the

Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981,

the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, the Retirement Equity Act of 1984, the Consolidated

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of

1985, and the Tax Reform Act of 1986.

These laws contributed greatly toward

the growth of defined contribution retirement plans.

Evolution of plan provisions and

changing economic conditions

Two examples of how the evolution of

plan provisions and economic conditions affected the surveyed details of

retirement benefits in the EBS are: (1)

Defined contribution retirement plans;

and (2) ad hoc increases to pension

annuities. Prior to 1985, the EBS focused on the provisions of traditional

defined benefit pension plans. Defined

contribution retirement plans, principally savings and thrift and deferred

profit-sharing plans, were not considered primary retirement benefit vehicles and were presented under

“other” benefits. However, the incidence of money purchase pension

plans (a type of defined contribution

retirement plan) did appear among the

pension estimates. (Money purchase

plans establish a fixed employer contribution to individual employee retirement accounts. At retirement, the accumulated funds are used to purchase

an annuity or are otherwise distributed.)

Defined contribution retirement

plans. During the mid-1980s, a period of rapidly rising wage and benefit costs,7 many employers sought to

curb current costs for future retirement

benefits by implementing defined contribution retirement plans. Enabling

legislation, dating from ERISA in

1974, facilitated their efforts. From

1980-84, eligibility to participate in

savings and thrift defined contribution

retirement plans increased dramatically. In 1980, for example, 32 percent of professional and administrative employees were in establishments

with savings plans in which all employees were eligible to participate. In

1984, this figure jumped to 42 percent.

Additionally, in both years, another 7

percent of professional and administrative employees were in establishments in which the majority of employees were eligible to participate.

Consequently, in 1985, the EBS

began capturing specific plan provisions for three types of defined contribution retirement plans: Savings and

thrift; deferred profit sharing; and

money purchase. As important, the

EBS changed its method of measuring benefit incidence to reflect the actual proportion of employees who participated in benefit plans. The details

that were captured varied by type of

plan and evolved to include the following provisions, which are currently

surveyed.

• Employee eligibility requirements and details of benefit

vesting

• Conditions and limits on employer contributions

• Conditions and details of the tax

status of employee contributions

• Conditions and details of investment of employer and employee

contributions

• Incidence and details of loan and

withdrawal options

• Incidence and details of rollovers from prior plans and distribution options for current

plans

• Basis for allocating employer

profit-sharing distributions to

employee accounts

• Incidence of discretionary profitsharing contributions to savings

and money purchase plans

Ad hoc increases to pension annuities. In l983, the EBS began capturing data on ad hoc, or unscheduled,

increases to pension annuities for retirees who had retired prior to some

specified date. Changes in general

economic conditions, such as the rate

of inflation and pension fund investment performance, are factors plan

administrators consider before granting ad hoc increases. For instance,

these increases are more widespread

during periods of inflation. The EBS

captured the incidence of ad hoc increases granted within a specified 5-

year period. During 1978-82, 51 percent of all participants were in plans

that had granted at least one ad hoc

increase to plan retirees. Data were

also captured and published on the

minimum and maximum amounts of

increase for the most recent adjustment, and the formula for computing

the most recent increase. In l989, the

ad hoc increase data were simplified

to capture only incidence data (18 percent of participants had received at

least one increase in the 1984-89 period). The incidence of ad hoc pension increases is still captured.

Identifying audiences and their

data needs

Retirement data provided by the EBS

offer the most comprehensive description of retirement plan provisions

available. The uses and users of these

data are many and varied. Users include Federal Government agencies,

academia, organized labor, businesses,

“think tanks,” policy consultants, and

private citizens. They have used EBS

estimates as the basis for policy formation, for general economic research,

and as input for economic models and

research related to labor costs, supply

and demand, and other economic variables.

The original intent of the survey

was to provide data for comparing

Federal and private sector employee

compensation. The U.S. Office of Personnel Management was the co-developer of the EBS and its principal user.

The full range of plan provisions were

also available to outside researchers

prior to 1992, through the issuance of

public use data tapes. Periodically,

when audiences for specific details

could no longer be identified, these

details were discontinued. Two examples include the surveyed details for
 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999 9

BLS Retirement Plan Surveys

service beyond normal retirement age

(postponing retirement) and past–service formula details. (Past service refers to service earned before the current formula was adopted or plan

amendments increased coverage.) The

EBS formally captured the extent to

which service after a stated normal

retirement age was credited towards

retirement benefits. These details were

dropped in 1993. From 1979 to 1983,

the EBS captured the incidence and

details of past-service benefit formulas; but, in 1984, only the incidence

of these formulas was captured and

even this notation was dropped in

1993.

Other examples of plan provisions

that were discontinued due to the lack

of an identifiable audience include the

following.

• All details of supplemental benefits for disability retirement and

early retirement

• All details of alternate or minimum benefit formulas

• All details of alternative or minimum pre-retirement survivor

annuity benefits

• All details of reduction in married retirees’ accrued benefit to

provide a spousal benefit

• Details beyond the incidence of:

- Alternate normal benefit formulas

- Minimum and maximum normal retirement benefits

- Supplemental payments to normal retirement benefits

- Cost-of-living adjustments

to benefits

- Supplemental payment to early

retirement benefits

- Pre-retirement and postretirement lump-sum or installment

death benefits

Changes in survey scope

For the first time in 1987, and on a

regular basis since 1990, the EBS included State and local government

employees’ benefit data. Because of

this enhancement, two areas of retirement plan provisions were seen as

potentially increasing or otherwise affecting the published details on plan

provisions. First, government defined

benefit pensions were more portable

than those in the private sector. Second, not all government employees

participated in Social Security, and this

could affect estimates of provisions

that integrate Social Security benefits

within pension annuity formulas.

Benefit portability. There has always

been an interest in benefit portability.

Workers who leave their employer before becoming fully vested could lose

some or all of their accrued retirement

benefits. In addition, employees who

leave will have their vested pension

benefits calculated on lower salaries

compared to similar workers who remain throughout their careers. Between the time the worker leaves a plan

and benefit payments begin, the

amount of the deferred benefit is frozen and its purchasing power is eroded

by inflation. Portable benefits resolve

both these problems. With the inclusion of State and local governments

to the survey scope, EBS envisioned

publishing additional survey details on

portability provisions such as the

transfer of service credits and assets.

As recently as 1995, fewer than 1

in 10 participants in private establishments were in plans with a provision

for portability of pensions. By comparison, in 1994, more than one in four

State and local government pension

participants had benefits that were

portable. The broad coverage of Statewide pension plans, which also can

include many local government employees, accounted for this somewhat

higher incidence of pension portability for State and local government

employees. However, the incidence of

portability provisions in governments

is still too low for publication purposes.

Integrating Social Security benefits.

Although State and local governments

had the option to voluntarily cover individual employees under Social Security prior to 1985, large numbers of

their employees were excluded from

coverage. With passage of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990, Congress extended

Social Security coverage to most State

and local government employees not

covered by a State retirement plan.

The EBS captures detailed information on how private pension benefit

formulas integrate private benefits

with Social Security benefits. However, estimates based on private sector data are not strictly comparable to

State and local government data due

to the non-universal coverage under

Social Security for government employees. Consequently, the EBS estimates of integrated benefits for government participants also indicate the

proportion not covered by Social Security. In 1994, for example, just 4

percent of the State and local government employee participants had benefit formulas that were integrated with

Social Security; 73 percent had formulas that were not integrated with Social Security, and 24 percent were not

covered by Social Security at all. In

1995, 51 percent of private pension

plan participants had benefit formulas that were integrated with Social

Security; formulas covering 49 percent

were not integrated.

Efforts to modernize and streamline survey methods and outputs

Prior to 1993, plan provisions were

abstracted from plan documents, entered on paper coding documents and

then key-entered into a mainframe

computer by off-site contractors. In

l993, the EBS modernized its data capture methods by having staff analyze

plan documents and enter plan details

directly into the database via a personal computer system. This change

afforded a good opportunity to review

all plan provisions that were being

captured. The necessary resources to

design, develop, and implement the

new system were devoted to details that

were relevant to identified user audiences. The modernization of the data

capture methods facilitated the elimination of many of the plan details that

were targeted to be discontinued for
10 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999

other reasons.

The presentation of survey data was

also streamlined at various times to

clarify the interpretation of the underlying data, or eliminate weak estimates, or because certain data were no

longer collected. For example, published data compared details of reduced vested retirement benefits received by early retirees meeting

minimum age and service requirements to those of other terminated

employees taking retirement benefits

before normal retirement age. In l993,

these data were made easier to understand by eliminating many of the quantitative reduction details and simplifying the comparison of reductions

between early retirees and other terminated employees.

Another example involved published data on the integration of pension annuities with Social Security

benefit provisions. These published

estimates compared different types of

benefit formulas, such as terminal

earnings, career earnings, and dollar

amount formulas. These comparisons

were eliminated in 1993, because they

involved data for relatively small

groups of plan participants.

A look to the future

This section describes the research and

decision processes that determined the

type of retirement data that will be

available from the NCS. The processes

of research and decision making to

define requirements for retirement

plan provisions were conducted in the

summer and autumn of 1997; these requirements continue to be refined, as

warranted. The table following this

article compares the data available on

retirement benefits from the EBS for

1998 with those envisioned under the

NCS.

Although the EBS, as a separate

survey medium, ceased after 1998,

benefit incidence and descriptions of

prevalent plan provisions will continue

and improve in the NCS. The NCS

estimates of retirement benefit incidence will be more timely and contain

more employer and employee demographic detail. Estimates of detailed

plan provisions will be more relevant,

even though the body of detail will be

streamlined for more efficient data

capture and timely release to the public. The more focused body of data

will be of equal or higher quality than

that collected in the EBS. And last,

the NCS will produce more timely ad

hoc surveys of employee benefits (retirement and otherwise) as topical issues and events warrant because of the

savings that will accrue from greater

efficiency.

The decision on which details of

retirement plan provisions to study was

the product of research into the efficacy of the current detail and any additional detail that would be useful to

data users. As part of the NCS outreach efforts during the summer of

1997, the Bureau contacted approximately two dozen individuals and organizations that used EBS estimates

of retirement plan provisions in the

past. The goal was to identify the nonBureau constituencies for each of the

details of the retirement plan provisions that the EBS captured and to

identify other provision details of interest that the EBS did not capture.8

These constituencies indicated a

wide range of interest in the details of

retirement plan provisions, which

were used, in conjunction with the

Bureau’s needs, to determine the detailed requirements for data on retirement plan provisions. The research

confirmed that our data users were

interested in the following benefits and

provisions.

• Benefit formulas

• Employer and employee contribution requirements (principally

for defined contribution retirement plans)

• Pay-out and cash-out options

• Benefit reductions for early receipt of vested benefits

• Participation and eligibility requirements

• Portability of service and assets

• Survivor benefits

• Vesting provisions

• Investment choices in defined

contribution retirement plans

• Allowable account transactions

(loans, withdrawals) in defined

contribution retirement plans

• Postretirement annuity increases

in defined benefit pension plans

• Type of plan and tax deferral aspects

Research also indicated that it was

possible to simplify the details captured for retirement plan provisions

without compromising the utility of the

data. Detailed provisions within plans

were categorized into one of two types,

the incidence of a provision and the

amount of a provision. Incidence indicates that the provision exists; for

example, there is a minimum age for

normal unreduced retirement.

Amount quantifies the provision; for

example, 60 years is the minimum age

for normal retirement. Although incidence details are highly useful to

many constituencies, the amounts of

some provisions are not.

As shown in the table, the retirement plan provisions that will be captured in the NCS are very similar to

those currently captured in the EBS.

There are some deletions of detail,

usually in the amounts of selected provisions. Almost invariably, these details had a perceived or identified audience or purpose at one time that no

longer exists. For example, the EBS

currently captures the age and service

requirements that yield unreduced

pensions. There are primary requirements related to the earliest age an

unreduced pension can be taken and

alternative requirements that related

to receipt of pensions at later ages.

Although the primary requirements

have always been published and are

needed by a broad constituency of data

users, the alternative age and service

requirements are not published, nor

has there been much recent, if any,

interest expressed in them. Therefore,

alternative age and service require-
 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999 11

BLS Retirement Plan Surveys

ments will not be surveyed in the

NCS.

Finally, there is a set of new provisions in the NCS. Incidence data will

be collected on the various investment

options available to employees for

their defined contribution retirement

plan assets.

Summary

As the employer-sponsored system of

retirement benefit plans continues to

1

 See Patrick Seburn, “Evolution of Employer-Provided Benefit Pensions,” Monthly Labor Review, December 1991, pp. 16-23. The

article details the development of employer-provided pension and retirement plans in the United

States from 1875 through 1989. It traces the

growth of pension coverage and the changes in

pension plan design, identifies the major catalysts

for change, and cites data and analysis provided

by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and other organizations. 2

 For example, see Michael Bucci, “Contributions to Savings and Thrift Plans,” Monthly Labor Review, November 1990, pp. 28-36; Edward

M. Coats, “Profit Sharing Today: Plans and Provisions,” Monthly Labor Review, April 1991, pp.

evolve, so will the need for data about

specific details of these plans. Over

time, there have been tremendous

changes in the way retirement benefits

have been provided by employers. In

more recent years, these changes have

been primarily in the use of defined

contribution retirement plans. Similarly, the details of published retirement plan provisions vary, depending

on the needs of identifiable audiences,

legal mandates, economic changes

that affect plan designs, new and

emerging benefit provisions, the availability of data, and changes in survey

coverage. As the products associated

with the EBS have become part of the

NCS, the Bureau has researched

which details of retirement plan provisions to continue surveying. Although very similar to the details surveyed currently, NCS benefit

provisions will be more streamlined

without a reduction in utility, and will

result in higher quality and more

timely estimates.

19-25; Ann C. Foster, “Employee Benefits: Defined Contribution Plans Become More Prevalent,” Compensation and Working Conditions,

June 1996, pp. 42-44; and Employee Benefits in

Private Industry, the annual bulletins of the BLS

Employee Benefits Survey. 3 Employee Benefits in Industry: A Pilot Survey, Report 615 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, July

1980). 4

 For a review of the NCS, see William J.

Wiatrowski, “Bureau of Labor Statistics’ New

Compensation Survey,” Compensation and

Benefits Review, September/October 1998, p.

29. 5

 In 1979, the survey was called the Level of

Benefits Survey. BLS and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) cosponsored it. The

mission of this program was to provide OPM with

detailed data on specific non-wage benefit plan

provisions as part of a new approach to compare

total compensation of private sector and Federal

employees. 6

 All estimates of frequency cited in this article relate to full-time employees in medium and

large private establishments, unless otherwise

noted. 7

 For an indication of these rising costs, see

Employment Cost Indexes, 1975-87, Bulletin

2504 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, July 1998). 8

 The Employee Retirement Security Act requires plan administrators to provide employees

with written plan descriptions.
12 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999

Employee Benefits Survey retirement plan provisions and their future in the National Compensation Survey, 1998

ALL PLANS:

Plan sponsor ....................................................................................................................... Retained

Eligibility (age and service) requirements ........................................................................... Retained

Tax status of required employee contributions .................................................................... Retained

Type of vesting arrangements ............................................................................................. Retained

Date of latest plan materials ................................................................................................ Retained

DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLANS:

Age and service requirements for a normal retirement benefit ............................................

Primary requirements .................................................................................................... Retained

Alternate requirements .................................................................................................. Deleted

Type of benefit .....................................................................................................................

Primary formula ............................................................................................................. Retained

Alternate formula ........................................................................................................... Deleted

Details of benefit formulas ................................................................................................... Retained

Scope of earnings included in benefit formula ..................................................................... Retained

Details of integration of retirement and social security benefits ........................................... Retained

Basis of social security taxable wage base for benefit calculation ...................................... Deleted

Minimum and maximum benefits per month ........................................................................ Deleted

Maximum credited service .................................................................................................. Retained

Incidence of supplements to normal retirement benefits ..................................................... Deleted

Incidence of early retirement provisions .............................................................................. Retained

Age and service requirements for an early retirement benefit

Primary requirements .................................................................................................... Retained

Alternate requirements .................................................................................................. Deleted

How to calculate early retirement benefit ............................................................................ Retained

Specific details to calculate early retirement reductions from the normal retirement benefit Deleted

Incidence of early retirement supplements .......................................................................... Deleted

Incidence of disability retirement provisions ........................................................................ Retained

Age and service requirements for a disability retirement benefit ......................................... Retained

Incidence and type of postretirement survivor benefit ......................................................... Retained

Percent details for postretirement survivor benefit .............................................................. Retained

Restoration of full benefit if spouse predeceases retiree ..................................................... Deleted

Incidence and type of pre-retirement survivor benefit ......................................................... Retained

Percent details for pre-retirement survivor benefit ............................................................... Retained

Onset of pre-retirement survivor benefits ............................................................................ Deleted

Incidence of lump-sum death benefits pre- and postretirement ........................................... Deleted

Incidence of children’s survivor benefits ............................................................................. Deleted

How to calculate early receipt of vested benefits ................................................................ Retained

Specific details to calculate early receipt of vested benefit reductions

 from the normal retirement benefit .................................................................................... Deleted

Incidence and types of portability provisions ....................................................................... Retained

Incidence and types of lump-sum payment options............................................................. Retained

Incidence and details of cost-of-living escalators to benefit formula .................................... Retained

Incidence and number of ad hoc increases to benefits in last 5 years ...................................... Retained

DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS:

All plans .............................................................................................................................. Retained

 Profit sharing, money purchase and savings and thrift plans

Incidence and amount of required minimum employee contributions ............................. Retained for

...................................................................................................................................... savings plans

Incidence and amount of optional maximum employee contributions............................. Retained

Details of employee options to defer taxes on contributions .......................................... Retained

Incidence and type of investment choices .....................................................................

 Employer funds ........................................................................................................... Retained1

 Employee funds .......................................................................................................... Retained1

Conditions for allocating investments (multiples) ...........................................................

 Employer funds ........................................................................................................... Deleted

 Employee funds .......................................................................................................... Deleted

Frequency of investment changes .................................................................................

 Employer funds ........................................................................................................... Deleted

 Employee funds .......................................................................................................... Deleted

Plan detail NCS status
 Compensation and Working Conditions Spring 1999 13

BLS Retirement Plan Surveys

Profit sharing, money purchase and savings and thrift plans—Continued

Incidence and conditions for withdrawing employer funds ............................................. Retained

When withdrawals can occur ......................................................................................... Deleted

Allowable amount of withdrawals ................................................................................... Deleted

Incidence and type of penalties for withdrawals ............................................................. Deleted

Incidence and conditions for loans of employer funds .................................................... Retained

Allowable amount of loans ............................................................................................. Deleted

When loans can occur ................................................................................................... Deleted

Repayment period for loans ........................................................................................... Deleted

Details of interest rate charged for loans ....................................................................... Deleted

Incidence of allowed rollovers from previous employer plan .......................................... Retained

Options for distributions at retirement ............................................................................ Retained

Profit sharing plans

Basis and formula to determine amount of employer contributions ................................ Basis Retained

Basis for allocating employer contribution to employees ................................................ Retained

Incidence of partial cash distributions in lieu of contributions to deferred plan ............... Deleted

Money purchase plans only

Basis for determining amount of employer contributions ................................................ Retained

Savings and thrift plans only

Basis for determining amount of employer matching contributions ................................ Retained

Limits on employer matching contributions .................................................................... Retained

Money purchase and savings and thrift plans

Incidence of funding through TIAA/CREF ...................................................................... Deleted

Incidence of discretionary profit sharing contributions ................................................... Deleted

1

 The NCS will also capture the number of options within the types of investment choices

Employee Benefits Survey retirement plan provisions and their future in the National Compensation Survey, 1998

—Continued

Plan detail NCS status

Are you considering publishing your research?

The editors of Compensation and Working Conditions will consider for publication studies dealing with compensation, safety and health, collective bargaining, and other workplace issues. Papers should be factual and analytical, not polemical in tone. Potential articles should be submitted

via e-mail to Cimini_M@bls.gov or to:

Michael H. Cimini, Editor

Compensation and Working Conditions

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Room 4175

2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE

Washington, DC 20212-0001