Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

16. Employee Benefit Plans

Granite Construction Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan: The Granite Construction Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) is a defined contribution plan covering all employees except employees covered by collective bargaining agreements and certain employees of our CCJVs, LRC/MSG and D&B. Our 401(k) matching contributions can be up to 6% of an employee’s gross pay at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Our 401(k) matching contributions to the 401(k) Plan for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 were $20.0 million, $18.6 million, and $17.7 million, respectively. Profit sharing contributions from us may be made to the 401(k) Plan in an amount determined by the Board of Directors. We made no profit sharing contributions during the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.

Lehman-Roberts/Memphis Stone & Gravel 401(k) Retirement Plan: The Lehman-Roberts Company sponsors a defined contribution plan for the benefit of its employees. Matching contributions to this plan were immaterial for the year ended December 31, 2024, as well as the period between our acquisition of LRC/MSG (see Note 2) and December 31, 2023. This plan also covers the employees of D&B.

Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan: We offer a Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan (“NQDC Plan”) to a select group of our highly compensated employees and non-employee directors. The NQDC Plan provides participants the opportunity to defer payment of certain compensation as defined in the NQDC Plan. Our NQDC Plan obligations are funded through a Rabbi Trust which was fully funded as of December 31, 2024. The assets held by the Rabbi Trust at December 31, 2024 and 2023 are substantially in the form of Company-owned life insurance and are included in other noncurrent assets in the consolidated balance sheets. As of December 31, 2024, there were 68 active participants in the NQDC Plan. NQDC Plan obligations were $27.8 million and $25.2 million as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, and were primarily included in other long-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets. In addition, we had supplemental retirement benefits of $3.4 million and $3.7 million in other long-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Our significant obligations related to the NQDC Plan are $3.6 million in 2025, $2.5 million in 2026, $2.3 million in 2027, $2.2 million in 2028, $1.3 million in 2029 and $15.9 million thereafter.

Multi-employer Pension Plans: As of December 31, 2024, three of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, Granite Construction Company, Layne Christensen Company and Granite Industrial, Inc. contribute to various multi-employer pension plans on behalf of union 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 we chose to stop participating in some of the multi-employer plans, we 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 (dollars in thousands):


		Pension Protection Act (“PPA”) Certified Zone Status (1)			Contributions
Pension Trust Fund	Pension Plan Employer Identification Number	2024	2023	FIP / RP Status Pending / Implemented (2)	2024		2023		2022		Surcharge Imposed	Expiration Date of Collective Bargaining Agreement (3)
Pension Trust Fund for Operating Engineers	94-6090764	Green	Yellow	Yes	$	10,972	$	10,434	$	9,783	No	3/31/2025 3/31/2026 6/30/2026 9/30/2026 1/31/2027 10/31/2027
Locals 302 and 612 IUOE-Employers Construction Industry Retirement Plan	91-6028571	Green	Green	No	6,976		6,520		5,204		No	3/31/2026 5/31/2028
Operating Engineers Pension Trust Fund	95-6032478	Green	Green	No	5,759		5,357		4,768		No	6/30/2025
All other funds (44 as of December 31, 2024)					22,105		20,466		18,270
			Total contributions:		$	45,811	$	42,777	$	38,025

(1)The most recent PPA zone status available in 2024 and 2023 is for the plan’s year-end during 2023 and 2022, respectively. 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)The “FIP/RP Status Pending/Implemented” column indicates plans for which a financial improvement plan (“FIP”) or a rehabilitation plan (“RP”) is either pending or has been implemented.

(3)Lists the expiration date(s) of the collective-bargaining agreement(s) to which the plans are subject. Pension trust funds with a range of expiration dates have various collective bargaining agreements.

Based upon the most recently available annual reports, our contribution to each of the individually significant plans listed in the table above was less than 5% of each plan’s total contributions. We currently have no intention of withdrawing from any of the multi-employer pension plans in which we participate that would result in a significant withdrawal liability. In addition, we do not have any significant future obligations or funding requirements related to these plans other than the ongoing contributions that are paid as hours are worked by plan participants.