Secondary Tag: Private Pension Plans
Workers covered by church plans tell their stories
Below are stories from people who have suffered because of their penion plan’s status as a “church pension plan”. Linda Ponce | Lake Hiawatha, NJ I was an employee of the Hospital Center at Orange in New JerseyJ for 27 years, until the hospital was closed 7 years ago. Through the years we were always told that […]
What is a church pension plan?
A church pension plan is a retirement plan that is established and maintained by a church for its employees. The term “church” applies to all religious denominations, and the term “employees” includes both clergy and lay employees. Church plans that are established and maintained by a church can also cover the employees of hospitals, schools, […]
Why does it matter if a pension plan is a church plan?
Church pension plans can choose to be covered by the federal private pension law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. However, most choose not to be. Without the protections provided by federal laws, these plans: Have no funding requirements. Unlike other private pension plans, church plans are […]
Why are church plans not covered by federal laws?
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) provided federal protections for all private-sector pension plans with one exception, plans established and maintained by churches for their own employees. According to a Senate report, the exception was included because lawmakers were concerned that the review of a church’s books and records by the federal pension […]
What can you do to help protect employees in church pension plans?
Employees and retirees in “church plans” are organizing to protest that they are unfairly, and in some cases illegally, being denied the pension protections that other private sector employees have. They are using different strategies. Some are relying on publicity and social media while others have filed lawsuits. Still others are urging government agencies to […]
The legislative history of church pension plans
Below is a brief summary of the law, legislative history, and rulings related to church plans. The 1974 private pension reform law, ERISA, provided a permanent exemption from the law for pension, health and other benefit plans established and maintained by a church for its employees. This permanent exemption did not apply to plans for […]
What are the types of church pension plans?
Many pension plans claim to have “church plan” status. Some are the types of plans Congress intended to exempt from the law. Others are not. This fact sheet describes the types of pension plans that claim to be church plans. The Pension Rights Center takes the position that there are only two types of church […]
Church Plans Can Leave Retirees Out in the Cold
Learn how one group of private retirement plans have little-to-no protections for the workers and retirees who are covered by these plans. What happened? In late 2009 Augsburg Fortress, the publishing house of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, announced in a letter to employees that it would terminate its traditional pension plan, affecting approximately 500 workers […]
Corporate Restructuring Can Cut Promised Pensions
Legally, companies can change their plans to end special early retirement pensions, but if they do, employees must still get the portion of the special benefit they have earned as of the date of the change – as long as they later meet its age and/or service requirements. But as employees of Dresser-Rand learned, if […]
Federal Pension Insurance Protections
In 1974, Congress created a federal pension insurance program for certain private retirement plans. This program is administered by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). What plans are protected by the PBGC? Most traditional private pension plans, commonly known as defined benefit plans, are protected by the PBGC, but not all. For example, certain plans covering […]
Benefit Cutbacks in Single Employer Plans
Starting in 2008 some underfunded pension plans sponsored by a single employer became subject to restrictions on benefits. These benefit restrictions were implemented by the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA), which Congress passed to shore up the funding of traditional private sector defined benefit pension plans. This fact sheet explains the four basic benefit restrictions under […]
How Well-Funded is Your Pension Plan?
Thanks to the Pension Protection Act of 2006, people covered by a traditional defined-benefit pension plan should now receive a pension funding notice every year, which gives workers an idea of how well-funded their plan is. However, if a funding notice is not available, it is possible to get a rough idea of the financial […]
