Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits Level 1 (Notes)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2013

PENSIONS AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS [Abstract]

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

PENSIONS AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFITS

Defined Benefit Plan

We provide a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan covering substantially all of our Dutch employees (the "Dutch Plan") who were hired prior to 2007 based on years of service and final pay or career average pay, depending on when the employee began participating. The benefits earned by the employees are immediately vested.  We fund the future obligations of the Dutch Plan by purchasing insurance contracts from a large multi-national insurance company. The insurance contracts are purchased annually and renew after five years at which time they are replaced with new contracts that are adjusted to include changes in the benefit obligation for the current year and redemption of the expired contracts. We make annual premium payments to the insurance company based on each employee's age and current salary, and the contractual growth rate. We determine the fair value of these plan assets with the assistance of an actuary using observable inputs (Level 2), which approximates the contract value of the investments.

The following table summarizes the components of net periodic pension cost under this plan for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2013			2012
	(Unaudited)
Service cost	$	396		$	287
Interest cost	420			428
Expected return on plan assets	(323		)	(306		)
Amortization of transition asset	(22		)	(22		)
Amortization of prior service cost	40			40
Amortization of actuarial loss	117			—
Net periodic pension cost	$	628		$	427

During the three months ended March 31, 2013, we contributed approximately $1.9 million, as determined by the insurance company, to fund the estimated 2013 premiums on investment contracts held by the Dutch Plan.

Defined Contribution Plans

We maintain five defined contribution plans (the "Defined Contribution Plans") for the benefit of eligible employees in Canada, The Netherlands, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom and the United States. In accordance with the terms of each plan, we and our participating employees contribute up to specified limits, and under certain plans, we may make discretionary contributions in accordance with the Defined Contribution Plans.

Deferred Compensation Arrangements

We have entered into deferred compensation contracts for certain key employees and an outside director. The benefits under these contracts are fully vested and benefits are paid when the participants attain 65 years of age. Life insurance policies with cash surrender values have been purchased for the purpose of assisting in the funding of the deferred compensation contracts.

We have also adopted a non-qualified deferred compensation plan that allows certain highly compensated employees to defer a portion of their salary, commission and bonus, as well as the amount of any reductions in their deferrals under the deferred compensation plan for employees in the United States (the "Deferred Compensation Plan"), due to certain limitations imposed by the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Internal Revenue Code").  The Deferred Compensation Plan also provides for employer contributions to be made on behalf of participants equal in amount to certain forfeitures of, and/or reductions in, employer contributions that participants could have received under the 401(k) Plan in the absence of certain limitations imposed by the Internal Revenue Code. Employer contributions to the Deferred Compensation Plan vest ratably over a period of five years. Contributions to the plan are invested in equity and other investment fund assets within life insurance policies, and carried on the balance sheet at fair value. A participant's plan benefits include the participant's deferrals, the vested portion of the employer's contributions, and deemed investment gains and losses on such amounts.

On a recurring basis, we use the market approach to value certain assets and liabilities at fair value at quoted prices in an active market (Level 1) and certain assets and liabilities using significant other observable inputs (Level 2) with the assistance of a third party specialist. We do not have any assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3). Gains and losses related to the fair value changes in the deferred compensation assets and liabilities are recorded in General and Administrative Expenses in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.  The following table summarizes the fair value balances (in thousands):

(Unaudited)			Fair Value Measurement at
			March 31, 2013
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Assets:
Deferred compensation trust assets (1)	$	13,344	$	—	$	13,344	$	—
Liabilities:
Deferred compensation plan	$	20,188	$	2,968	$	17,220	$	—

			Fair Value Measurement at
			December 31, 2012
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Assets:
Deferred compensation trust assets (1)	$	12,654	$	—	$	12,654	$	—
Liabilities:
Deferred compensation plan	$	18,579	$	2,667	$	15,912	$	—
(1) Trust assets consist of the cash surrender value of life insurance policies and are intended to assist in the funding of the deferred compensation plan.