Washington Post freezes pension plan, switches to cash balance option

The Washington Post's parent company is freezing its defined benefit plan and transferring remaining participants to an existing cash balance plan, effective Jan. 1, 2015. The company is also offering a lump-sum option for all defined benefit participants.

Employees hired Sept. 1, 2009 or later already participate in the cash balance plan.

The changes were announced in a letter sent to union and non-union employees by Wayne Connell, vice president for human resources, which was obtained by Pensions & Investments.

The changes for unionized employees, who are represented by The Newspaper Guild, will have to be negotiated during bargaining talks that began Tuesday.

Non-union employees hired after Sept. 30, 2014, will not participate in the cash balance plan.

The company's 401(k) plan will continue, but employer contributions will be cut to 1% from the current 5% for unionized employees. That reduction is already in effect for non-union employees.

In August 2013, the Washington Post Co. was sold to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and is now a privately held company. According to the company's 2012 annual report, the pension fund was 141% funded, with $2.07 billion in assets and $1.47 billion in liabilities.

Hazel Bradford writes for Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Business Insurance.