Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

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, 2011, 2010 and 2009 amounted to $3.9 million, $1.8 million, and $2.7 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, 2011, 2010 and 2009 amounted to $0.5 million, $0.3 million and $0.9 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 approximately 96 locals. The related collective bargaining agreements between those organizations and the Company expire at different times, with the longest expiring in September 2015.

        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 that it currently participates in. 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, 2009 through December 31, 2011 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 2011 and 2010 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.

        Also listed in the table below are the significant multiemployer defined contribution plans that the Company contributes to. 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 Fund	EIN/Pension Plan Number		Pension Protection Act Zone Status				Contributions to Plan (in thousands)						Funding Plan	Min Future Contrib
			Status	Plan Year End	Status	Plan Year End	2011		2010		2009
Defined Benefit Plans:
National Electrical Benefit Fund	53-0181657	001	Green	6/30/2010	Green	6/30/2009	$	5,138	$	4,187	$	4,444	No	3% of wages
Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund	84-6100393	001	Green	3/31/2012	Green	3/31/2011		3,752		4,605		4,071	Yes	$2.11/hr
IBEW Local 1249 Pension Plan	15-6035161	001	Red	12/31/2010	Red	12/31/2009		2,749		3,933		1,259	Yes	$6.85/hr
Defined Contribution Plans:
National Electrical Annuity Plan	52-6132372	001		n/a		n/a		14,564		10,263		12,857	n/a	n/a
Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund Annuity Plan	84-6100393	002		n/a		n/a		2,429		3,065		3,127	n/a	n/a
All other funds:								4,508		4,742		3,969
Total Contributions:							$	33,140	$	30,795	$	29,727

        The changes in contributions between periods to the multiemployer plans are primarily due to the change in the number of Company employees covered by the plans and the amount that those employees work. In particular, the Eighth District covers employees in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah, where the number of employees decreased in 2011 due to fewer projects in those areas. There was a corresponding decrease in contributions to the Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund and the Eighth District Electrical Pension Fund Annuity Plan in 2011. The increase in IBEW Local 1249 contributions in 2010 compared to 2009 was related to an increase in employees working for one particular customer, and fewer employees were needed for that customer's work in 2011, resulting in lower contributions in this year. 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.

        The Company 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, 2011, 2010 and 2009. The Company 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 year ending December 31, 2010.