By John Eckberg
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Workers who seek information about their company's funded and unfunded pension obligations have few research options - although a trio of federal agencies offers information and protection for pension funds of bankrupt companies.

Generally, pension benefits are not at risk when a company declares bankruptcy because the pension assets must be kept in a separate account from other company operating funds.

The funds are usually held in trust or invested in an all-insurance contract, according to the U.S. Dept. of Labor's employee benefits security administration.

"By law, the company can't just dip into a pension plan and use the assets to keep the company afloat," said Shaun O'Brien, assistant director of public policy for the AFL-CIO, a Washington D.C.-based union.

"But that doesn't mean that the company hasn't funded the plan poorly."

The federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act requires that when an employer has financial difficulty and cannot fund its pensions, the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) assumes responsibility.

"It is like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for savings banks," said Ed Potter, president of the Employment Policy Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based research and education foundation that focuses on workplace trends and policies.

Potter said the issue of unfunded pensions has caught the attention of many retirees and economists because some think that the PBGC might not have enough money to pay benefits to retirees for pensions now under its control.

"In 2001, there was essentially a $100 billion gap between total plan liabilities and plan assets," Potter said.

That gap might have closed in recent years, however, as the 2003 economic recovery might have lifted the value of assets, Potter said.

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E-mail jeckberg@enquirer.com