Pension Policy Should End Inequities

The Pension Rights Center hears from many individuals who feel that they have been treated unfairly by the rules of their retirement plans. In some cases these rules are traceable to loopholes in federal laws that have not yet been closed. Here is a sampling of these gaps in the laws. Some are the subject of pending legislation or are the focus of Pension Action campaigns. Others could be addressed if sufficient public attention were paid to them. 

Inequities primarily affecting older employees

  • Many older employees have worked their entire their careers under traditional pension plans, counting on receiving special early retirement pensions, only to find that their companies have changed the rules or have gone into bankruptcy just before they reach retirement age, which can cost them as much as half of their expected pensions. 

Inequities primarily affecting younger employees

  • Younger employees can lose out from plan rules that make it possible for companies to offer retirement savings plans to some employees and not others, to deny benefits to employees who work shorter periods, or part-time, and to provide much larger benefits to some employees at the expense of others.

Please check back to read about these and other gaps, including :

  • Inequities primarily affecting retirees
  • Inequities affecting widowed or divorced women
  • Inequities affecting employees of certain religious organizations
  • Inequities affecting employees of some government agencies