Employee Benefit Plans

The Company sponsors a defined contribution plan that provides retirement benefits to eligible employees who elect to participate (the “Dycom Plan”). Under the plan, participating employees may defer up to 75% of their base pre-tax eligible compensation up to the IRS limits. The Company contributes 30% of the first 5% of base eligible compensation that a participant contributes to the plan and may make discretionary matching contributions from time to time. The Company’s contributions were $5.0 million, $4.8 million, and $4.0 million related to the fiscal 2017, 2016, and 2015 periods, respectively.

Certain of the Company’s subsidiaries contribute amounts to multiemployer defined benefit pension plans under the terms of collective bargaining agreements (“CBA”) that cover employees represented by unions. Contributions are generally based on fixed amounts per hour per employee for employees covered by the plan. Participating in a multiemployer plan entails risks different 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 allocated to the remaining participating employers; and


•	if the Company stops participating in the multiemployer plan, the Company may be required to pay the plan an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan. This payment is referred to as a withdrawal liability.

The information available to the Company about the multiemployer plans in which it participates is generally dated due to the nature of the reporting cycle of multiemployer plans and legal requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) as amended by the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (“MPPAA”). Based upon the most recently available annual reports, the Company’s contribution to each of the plans was less than 5% of each plans’ total contributions. The Pension, Hospitalization and Benefit Plan of the Electrical Industry – Pension Trust Fund (“the Plan”) was considered individually significant and is presented separately below. All other plans are presented in the aggregate in the following table (dollars in thousands):



		PPA Zone Status⁽¹⁾			Company Contributions							Expiration Date of CBA
Fund	EIN	2016	2015	FIP/RP Status⁽²⁾	2017		2016		2015		Surcharge Imposed	Expiration Date of CBA
The Plan	13-6123601	Green	Green	No	$	—	$	3,057	$	3,852	No	5/5/2016
Other Plans					384		622		934			Various
Total Contributions					$	384	$	3,679	$	4,786

⁽¹⁾ The most recent Pension Protection Act (the “PPA”) zone status was provided by the Plan for Plan years ending September 30, 2016 and September 30, 2015, respectively. The zone status is based on information provided by the Plan and is certified by the Plan’s actuary. Generally, plans in the red zone are less than 65% funded, plans in the yellow zone are between 65% and 80% funded, and plans in the green zone are at least 80% funded.

⁽²⁾ The “FIR/RP Status” column indicates plans for which a financial improvement plan (FIP) or rehabilitation plan (RP), as required by the Internal Revenue Code, are either pending or have been implemented.

In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, one of the Company’s subsidiaries, which previously contributed to the Plan, ceased operations. In October 2016, the Plan demanded payment for a claimed withdrawal liability of approximately $13.0 million. In December 2016, the Company submitted a formal request to the Plan seeking review of the Plan’s withdrawal liability determination. The Company is disputing the claim of a withdrawal liability demanded by the Plan as it believes there is a statutory exemption available under ERISA for multiemployer pension plans that primarily cover employees in the building and construction industry. The Plan has taken the position that the work at issue does not qualify for the statutory exemption. The Company has submitted this dispute to arbitration, as required by ERISA, with a hearing expected sometime in 2018. As required by ERISA, in November 2016, the subsidiary began making monthly payments of a withdrawal liability to the Plan in the amount of approximately $0.1 million. If the Company prevails in disputing the withdrawal liability all such payments will be refunded to the Company.