In a defined benefit pension plan, is an employee's pension entitlement calculated directly on the basis of his employer's contributions?

In a "defined benefit" pension plan, such as the one administered by this Fund, an employee's pension is not calculated directly on the basis of the contributions made for him by his employer. See Connolly v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, 581 F.2d 729, 733 (9th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 935, 99 S.Ct. 1278, 59 L.Ed.2d 492 (1979). For example, an increase in an employee's hourly rate may elevate the level of his or her benefit entitlements for prior years, even though those years were compensated at lower rates. Thus, an employer's hourly contributions (e.g., 70cents per hour) do not necessarily cover the vested benefit cost. As a result, defined benefit plans can have a significant "unfunded vested benefit liability"--the shortfall between the assets of the pension fund (the hourly contributions paid by employers, plus earnings thereon) and the actuarial value of vested pension rights of the employees. Id.