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Employee Benefit Plans
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12 Months Ended |
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Jul. 28, 2012
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| Employee Benefit Plans | 16. Employee Benefit Plans
Retirement Savings Plan (401 (k))
The Company sponsors a defined contribution retirement savings plan (401(k)). This plan covers substantially all eligible U.S. employees, except current employees of Charming Shoppes. Participating employees may contribute a percentage of their annual compensation, subject to certain limitations under the Internal Revenue Code. The Company contributes a matching amount equal to 50% of the first 5% of salary contributed by an employee. Under the terms of the plan, an employee is 100% vested in Company matching contributions after three years of accredited service. The Company incurred expenses of approximately $3.1 million in Fiscal 2012, $2.7 million in Fiscal 2011 and $2.3 million in Fiscal 2010, relating to its contributions to and administration of the 401(k) plan.
With regards to employees of Charming Shoppes, the Company assumed a $0.3 million liability relating to Charming Shoppes defined contribution retirement savings plan. It is expected that such plan will be terminated in Fiscal 2013 and that employees of Charming Shoppes will become eligible to participate in the Company’s 401(k) plan. Post-acquisition, defined-contribution expenses relating to the Charming Shoppes retirement savings plan were not material in Fiscal 2012.
Executive Retirement Plan
The Company sponsors an Executive Retirement Plan (the “ERP Plan”) for certain officers and key executives, which currently does not include officers and executives of Charming Shoppes. The ERP Plan is a non-qualified deferred compensation plan. The purpose of the ERP Plan is to attract and retain a select group of management or highly compensated employees and to provide them with an opportunity to defer compensation on a pretax basis above Internal Revenue Service limitations. ERP Plan balances cannot be rolled over to another qualified plan or IRA upon distribution. Unlike a qualified plan, the Company is not required to pre-fund the benefits payable under the ERP Plan.
ERP Plan participants can contribute up to 95% of base salary and bonus, before federal and state taxes are calculated. The Company makes a matching contribution to the ERP Plan in the amount of 100% on the first 5% of base salary and bonus deferred. Employees vest immediately in their voluntary deferrals, but employer matching contributions are subject to a 5-year vesting requirement. The Company made matching contributions of approximately $2.2 million in Fiscal 2012, $2.1 million in Fiscal 2011 and $1.0 million in Fiscal 2010 relating to the ERP Plan. In addition, as the ERP Plan is unfunded by the Company, the Company is also required to pay an investment return to participating employees on all account balances in the ERP Plan based on 27 reference investment fund elections offered to participating employees. As a result, the Company’s obligations under the ERP Plan are subject to market appreciation and depreciation, which resulted in expense of $1.4 million in Fiscal 2012, $5.4 million in Fiscal 2011 and $2.3 million in Fiscal 2010. The Company’s obligations under the ERP Plan, including employee compensation deferrals, matching employer contributions and investment returns on account balances, were $49.6 million as of July 28, 2012 and $42.3 million as of July 30, 2011. Such amounts are classified within “Other non-current liabilities” in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.
In addition, in connection with the Charming Shoppes Acquisition, the Company assumed a $9.2 million liability relating to a non-qualified, deferred compensation plan of Charming Shoppes. Charming Shoppes had suspended all provisions for matching company contributions prior to the acquisition and settled such liability prior to July 28, 2012. It is expected that such plan will be terminated in Fiscal 2013 and that certain officers and executives of Charming Shoppes will become eligible to participate in the Company’s ERP plan. Post-acquisition expenses relating to the Charming Shoppes non-qualified, deferred-compensation plan were not material in Fiscal 2012.
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
The Company also sponsors an Employee Stock Purchase Plan, which allows employees to purchase shares of the Company’s common stock during each quarterly offering period at a 10% discount through bi-weekly payroll deductions. Expenses incurred during Fiscal 2012, Fiscal 2011 and Fiscal 2010 relating to this plan were de minimus. |