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Eligibility

You can retire with a full pension at 65 or older regardless of years of service or a reduced pension at 50 with at least 10 years of service. You vest in the pension plan after 5 years of credited service.

Company employees, shown on the regular payroll and personnel records with Compensation reported by the Company on an IRS Form W-2, automatically become Pension Plan participants unless they are in one of the following excluded categories:

  • Postdocs, IGUA bargaining unit, or temporary ATLC bargaining unit (less than 9 month-employees),
  • Leased employees,
  • Independent contractors,
  • Non-resident aliens who do not have earnings from the Company from sources within the United States,
  • Employees who have entered into a written agreement with the Company waiving the right to participate in the plan

Pension Plan Contributions

You and ORNL both contribute to your pension. You make mandatory contributions to the Pension Plan in the following amounts: 2% of your compensation up to the maximum Social Security wage base for the year and 4% of your compensation above the Social Security Wage base for the year. ORNL pension contributions vary year-to-year based upon market returns, interest rates, mortality tables, and other key assumptions.

Calculate Your Benefit

You can retire with a full pension benefit once you meet certain requirements — based on your Company Service Date.

Lifetime monthly payments based on your length of service and eligible monthly straight-time earnings during your final 3 years or the highest 3 calendar years of your final 10 years of service. A typical early career employee hired at 31 years of age with a salary of $112,527 and who retires at 65 with 34 years of service can expect a pension payout of $7,211 a month.

The amount of your monthly pension will be the greater of:

  • 1.2% of your average straight-time monthly earnings (ASTME) multiplied by your company service (CS).
    (0.012)(ASTME)(CS) = Monthly Pension
  • $5 for each of your first 10 years of services plus $7 for each service years 11-20 plus $9 for each year in excess of 20 years of service, plus 10% of your average straight-time monthly earnings (if you have less than 8 years of services this will be reduced 1% a year for each year less than 8) plus $18.