The Impact of Long Vesting Periods on State and Local Workers

The brief’s key findings are:

• Public sector defined benefit plans provide short-tenure workers with little or no pension benefits.

• One reason is that these plans have long vesting periods – the years of service needed to qualify for any benefit.

• The longer the vesting period, the less likely an employee will remain long enough to vest.

• This effect helps explain why nearly half of workers depart without any promise of future benefits.