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Corporations seeking pension relief from the U.S. Congress could be asked to abstain from freezing their retiree programs as a condition of acceptance.

Any changes in pension funding requirements that benefit employers should require companies to keep their pensions active for five years following the funding relief, according to the Pension Rights Center, an employee advocacy group. Corporations that have already frozen their pensions shouldn't be granted the relief at all, the group says.

"We support keeping defined benefit plans, so we support granting some relief. But we want to make sure that workers are protected, too," by mandating that companies not freeze their pensions, said Pension Rights Center Spokeswoman Nancy Hwa.

The no-freeze proposal is one of several items currently being considered by lawmakers who are drafting legislation on pension relief, according to the office of Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D.

"The legislation is not final yet. There are still a lot of things being discussed right now," said Pomeroy's spokeswoman, Sandra Salstrom, who added that she couldn't predict when a final draft would be ready.

Groups representing employers say that offering pension relief only to organizations that promise to keep their pensions alive for a set period of time is too restrictive in today's economic environment, and could backfire.

"I would think that there would be the temptation to just freeze the plan and not take the relief," said Mike Chittenden, director of retirement legislation and regulations for the ERISA Industry Committee, which represents corporations' on their employee benefit issues.

The number of companies freezing their pension plans has risen over the past 12 months as they grapple with two conflicting issues: Falling pension assets have led to underfunded plans, just as new funding requirements have taken effect. Among those announcing plans to freeze pensions in recent months are Motorola Inc. (MOT), newspaper publisher McClatchy Co. (MNI) and insurer Aon Corp. (AOC).

Corporations last year sought - and received - some temporary relief from the funding requirements set out in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. But companies said the legislation signed by President George Bush in late December doesn't do enough to help them at a time when the economy and markets are punishing both their revenue and their pensions' funding status

-By Lynn Cowan, Dow Jones Newswires; 301-270-0323; lynn.cowan@dowjones.com