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Employee Benefit Plans
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Employee Benefit Plans  
Employee Benefit Plans

15. Employee Benefit Plans

        The Company has a profit sharing and thrift employee benefit plan in effect for all eligible salaried employees. Company contributions under this defined contribution plan are based upon a percentage of income with limitations as defined by the plan. Contributions for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 amounted to $5.9 million, $3.9 million, and $1.8 million, respectively. The Company also has an employee benefit plan in effect for certain non-union hourly employees. Company contributions under this defined contribution plan are based upon a percentage of income with limitations as defined by the plan. Contributions for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 amounted to $0.6 million, $0.5 million and $0.3 million, respectively.

        The Company contributes to a number of multiemployer defined benefit pension plans under the terms of collective-bargaining agreements that cover its union-represented employees. A defined benefit pension plan promises an employee a specified monthly benefit on retirement that is predetermined by a formula based on the employee's earnings history, tenure of service, age or other data, rather than depending on investment returns. The Company's employees that are covered under the multiemployer defined benefit plans are represented by over 100 local unions. The related collective bargaining agreements between those organizations and the Company expire at different times between 2013 and 2016.

        The risks of participating in these multiemployer defined benefit plans are different from single-employer plans in the following aspects:

  • 1)
    Assets contributed to the multiemployer plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers.

    2)
    If a participating employer stops contributing to a plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be borne by the remaining participating employers.

    3)
    If the Company chooses to stop participating in some of its multiemployer plans, it may be required to pay those plans an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability.

        The Company has no plans to withdraw from any multiemployer defined benefit plans in which it currently participates. The plans do not maintain information on the net assets and actuarial present value of the plans' unfunded vested benefits allocable to the Company, and the amounts, if any, for which the Company may be contingently liable, could be material but are not ascertainable at this time. The Company's participation in significant multiemployer defined benefit plans for the annual periods ended December 31, 2010 through December 31, 2012 is outlined in the table below. The "EIN/Pension Plan Number" column provides the Employee Identification Number (EIN) and the three-digit plan number, if applicable. The most recent Pension Protection Act (PPA) zone status available in 2012 and 2011 is for the plan's year-end indicated in the table. The zone status is based on information that the Company received from the plan. Among other factors, plans in the red zone are generally less than 65 percent funded, plans in the yellow zone are less than 80 percent funded, and plans in the green zone are at least 80 percent funded. The "Funding Plan" column indicates plans for which a financial improvement plan or a rehabilitation plan is either pending or has been implemented.

        Listed in the table below are the significant multiemployer defined contribution plans to which the Company contributes. Defined contribution plans are retirement plans to which the Company contributes a fixed amount each pay period as long as the Company has employees covered under the plan. Future benefits to the employee from defined contribution plans are not guaranteed and fluctuate on the basis of investment earnings, and therefore the Company is not obligated to make payments other than current contributions for employees currently employed.

 
    
    
   Pension Protection Act Zone Status   Contributions to Plan
(in thousands)		    
    
Pension Fund
  EIN/Pension
Plan Number		    
   Status   Plan Year
End		   Status   Plan Year
End		   2012   2011   2010   Funding
Plan		   Min
Future
Contrib

Defined Benefit Plans:

                                                            

National Electrical Benefit Fund

     53-0181657     001   Green     6/30/2012   Green     6/30/2011   $ 5,731   $ 5,138   $ 4,187   No     3% of
wages

Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund

     84-6100393     001   Green     3/31/2013   Green     3/31/2012     3,733     3,752     4,605   No   $ 1.71/hr

IBEW Local 1249 Pension Plan

     15-6035161     001   Yellow     12/31/2012   Red     12/31/2011     3,679     2,749     3,933   Yes   $ 9.60/hr

Defined Contribution Plans:

                                                            

National Electrical Annuity Plan

     52-6132372     001         n/a         n/a     17,081     14,564     10,263   n/a     n/a

Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund Annuity Plan

     84-6100393     002         n/a         n/a     2,560     2,429     3,065   n/a     n/a

All other plans:

                                    
6,979		    
4,508		    
4,742		          
                                                       

Total Contributions:

                                   $ 39,763   $ 33,140   $ 30,795          
                                                       

        The changes in contributions between periods to the multiemployer plans were primarily due to the increase in the number of Company employees covered by the plans and the number of hours that those employees worked, which was caused by the increase in our business activity. The National Electrical Benefit Fund requires contributions totaling 3% of all wages paid to the Company's employees who are represented by the IBEW and the changes in contributions to that fund are solely due to the changes in the amount of wages paid between those periods.

        One of the company's subsidiaries was listed in the Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund's Form 5500 as providing more than 5 percent of the total contributions to that plan for the plan years ending March 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010. Another of the company's subsidiaries was listed in the IBEW Local 1249 Pension Plan's Form 5500 as providing more than 5 percent of the total contributions to that plan for the plan years ending December 31, 2012 and 2010.