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RETIREMENT BENEFITS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2023
Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans Disclosures [Abstract]  
RETIREMENT BENEFITS
17.RETIREMENT BENEFITS
Defined Contribution Plans
The Company maintains a defined contribution profit-sharing plan (401(k) plan) covering substantially all non-union persons employed by the Company, whereby employees may contribute a percentage of compensation, limited to maximum allowed amounts under the Internal Revenue Code. The 401(k) plan provides for a discretionary employer contribution and is determined annually by the Company’s board of directors. The Company made matching contributions of $3,346, $3,029 and $3,147, respectively, for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Multi-Employer Pension Plans
As of December 31, 2023, the Company had approximately 3,000 employees, including 2,400 field personnel. We had 600 employees, or approximately 20% of total employees, that were union members covered by collective bargaining agreements.
The Company contributes to a number of multi-employer defined benefit pension plans under the terms of collective-bargaining agreements that cover its union-represented employees. The risks of participating in these multi-employer plans are different from single-employer plans in the following aspects:
•Assets contributed to the multi-employer 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 the Company chooses to stop participating in some of its multi-employer plans, the Company may be required to pay those plans an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability.
The following table presents our participation in these plans:
Pension Trust
Fund		Pension Plan Employer Identification NumberPlan Year End
Pension Protection Act (“PPA”) Certified Zone Status (1)
FIP / RP Status Pending/Implemented (2)
Contributions (3)
Surcharge
Imposed		Expiration Date of Collective Bargaining Agreement
20232022202320222021
Heavy and General Construction Laborers Local 472 and Local 172 (4)
22-60321033/31GreenGreenNo$4,324 $5,119 $3,343 No2/29/2024
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 (4)
22-60333806/30GreenYellowNo2,7894,3812,734No6/30/2024
Pension Trust Fund for Operating Engineers94-609076412/31YellowYellowYes2,2881,2651,411NoVarious dates through 2026
All other funds 3,2662,1632,397
Total Contributions:$12,667 $12,928 $9,885 
 (1)    The PPA zone status represents the most recent available information for the respective plan, which may be 2022 or earlier for the 2023 year and 2021 or earlier for the 2022 year. The zone status is based on information that we received from the plan and is certified by the plan’s actuary. Among other factors, plans in the red zone are generally less than 65 percent funded, plans in the orange zone are less than 80 percent funded and have an Accumulated Funding Deficiency in the current year or projected into the next six years, plans in the yellow zone are less than 80 percent funded and plans in the green zone are at least 80 percent funded.
(2)    Indicates whether the plan has a financial improvement plan (“FIP”) or a rehabilitation plan (“RP”) which is either pending or has been implemented.
(3)    Our 2023 contributions as a percentage of total plan contributions were not available for any of our plans. For 2022, Heavy and General Construction Laborers Local 472 and Local 172 represented more than 5% of the total plan contributions, Pension Trust Fund for Operating Engineers Pension Plan did not represent more than 5% of the total plan contributions and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 annual report was not available. For 2021, our multi-employer pension plan contributions did not represent more than 5% of the total plan contributions.
(4)    Includes multi-employer pension plans acquired as part of the Petillo acquisition. The contributions made in 2022 and 2021 were made by Petillo and not by Sterling.
The Company also contributes to multi-employer plans for annuity benefits covered under the defined contribution portion of the plans as well as health benefits. We made contributions to our multi-employer plans of $18,709, $18,847 and $14,905 during 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, for these additional benefits. We currently have no intention of withdrawing from any of the multi-employer pension plans in which we participate.