Equifax Inc., Atlanta, will freeze its defined benefit pension plan for about 4,000 U.S. employees, according to a news release.
About 300 U.S. employees who have met what the release called certain grandfathering criteria will remain in the current DB and 401(k) plans, while others will be offered a new, enhanced 401(k) plan in which Equifax will make automatic contributions between 1.5% and 4%, based on years of service. New employees also will be moved to the new 401(k) plan.
The company did not elaborate on the criteria for staying in the previous DB and DC plans.
The company will also make a 100% match on employee contributions up to 4% for the new 401(k) plan. The existing 401(k) plan includes a 50% match on the first 6% of employee contributions.
The changes are “in line with established marketplace trends, in which retirement savings through a 401(k) plan is increasingly becoming the standard retirement offering by employers, including many of the company’s competitors for talent and business,” according to the news release.
The company does not expect a material amount of cost savings in the near future as a result of the changes, according to the release.
The company’s defined benefit plan had $606 million in assets as of Dec. 31, the release said. According to the 2008 Money Market Directory, the current 401(k) plan had $221 million in assets as of December 2005, the latest data available.
Equifax spokesman Tim Klein did not return a call by press time seeking details.
