Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Compensation And Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

NOTE 15 — EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Multiemployer benefit plans. The Company currently participates in multiemployer pension plans in which the risks of participating differs from single-employer plans in the following aspects:

Assets contributed to the multiemployer plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers;

If a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be borne by the remaining participating employers;

If an entity chooses to stop participating in some of its multiemployer plans, the entity may be required to pay those plans an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability; and

If the plan is terminated by withdrawal of all employers and if the value of the nonforfeitable benefits exceeds plan assets and withdrawal liability payments, employers are required by law to make up the insufficient difference.

The Company’s participation in these plans is presented below.


	EIN/Pension	Pension Protection Act Zone Status ⁽²⁾		FIP/RP	Contributions by the Company (in thousands)⁽⁴⁾						Surcharge	Expiration Dates of Collective Bargaining
Pension Fund⁽¹⁾	Plan Number	2018	2017	Status ⁽³⁾	2019		2018		2017		Imposed	Agreements
Southern Nevada Culinary and Bartenders Pension Plan	88-6016617/001	Green	Green	No	$	52,218	$	47,825	$	45,297	No	3/31/2021⁽⁵⁾; 5/31/2023⁽⁵⁾; 5/31/2024⁽⁵⁾
The Legacy Plan of the UNITE HERE Retirement Fund (UHF)⁽⁶⁾	82-0994119/001	Red	Red	Yes	$	10,151	$	9,794	$	9,416	Yes	2/29/2020⁽⁷⁾

(1)

The Company was listed in the plan's Form 5500 as providing more than 5% of the total contributions for the plan years 2018 and 2017 for the Southern Nevada Culinary and Bartenders Pension Plan and for the plan year 2018 for the UHF. At the date the financial statements were issued, Form 5500 was not available for the plan year 2019.

(2)	The zone status is based on information that the Company received from the plan and is certified by the plan's actuary. Plans in the red zone are generally less than 65% funded (critical status) and plans in the green zone are at least 80% funded.

(3)	Indicates plans for which a Financial Improvement Plan (FIP) or a Rehabilitation Plan (RP) is either pending or has been implemented.

(4)	There have been no significant changes that affect the comparability of contributions.

(5)

The Company is party to twelve collective bargaining agreements (CBA) that require contributions with the Local Joint Executive Board of Las Vegas, which is made up of the Culinary Workers Union and Bartenders Union. The agreements between Aria, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay, and MGM Grand Las Vegas are the most significant because more than half of the Company’s employee participants in this plan are covered by those four agreements.

(6)

Effective January 1, 2018, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation approved the spin-off of the UNITE HERE portion of the Legacy Plan of the National Retirement Fund (NRF) to the newly formed UHF. As a result of the spin-off, the pension liabilities as well as certain assets of the plan were transferred to the new plan. The terms of the UHF plan are identical to the NRF plan.

(7)	The Company intends to extend the agreement past the expiration date until a new agreement is executed.

Multiemployer benefit plans other than pensions. Pursuant to its collective bargaining agreements referenced above, the Company also contributes to UNITE HERE Health (the “Health Fund”), which provides healthcare benefits to its active and retired members. The Company contributed $206 million, $191 million, and $183 million to the Health Fund in the years ended December 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively.

Self-insurance. The Company is self-insured for most health care benefits and workers compensation for its non-union employees. The liability for self-insurance was $95 million and $93 million at December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, which is included in “Other accrued liabilities” and “Other long-term obligations.”