Pension and Other Post-Retirement Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Pension and Other Post-Retirement Plans

Pension and Other Post-Retirement Plans

We have defined benefit pension plans for our U.K.-based union employees and certain Canadian-based employees (the “U.K. Plan” and the “Canadian Plan,” respectively). Retirement benefits under the U.K. Plan are generally based on an employee’s average compensation over the two years preceding retirement. In the third quarter, we remeasured the U.K. Plan valuation as a result of a plan amendment which resulted in a decrease to our pension benefit obligation of $5,825. As a result of the amendment, the U.K. Plan is closed to new participants and pensionable earnings used to calculate retirement benefits are limited to a 2% annual increase, while the plan is less than 100% funded. Retirement benefits under the Canadian Plan are generally based on the number of years of credited service. Our policy is to fund the minimum contribution permissible by the applicable regulatory authorities.

The following table sets forth the combined amount of net periodic benefit cost recognized for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011:

	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
	September 30,						September 30,
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Components of net periodic pension benefit cost:
Service cost	$	428		$	589		$	1,564		$	1,512
Interest cost	1,135			1,114			3,429			3,461
Expected return on plan assets	(1,436		)	(1,161		)	(3,890		)	(3,485		)
Amortization of actuarial gains	135			95			637			284
Amortization of prior service costs	(113		)	(54		)	(151		)	(59		)
Net periodic cost	$	149		$	583		$	1,589		$	1,713

We have a 401(k) plan for U.S.-based employees. We contribute 37.5 cents on the dollar for the first 6% of participant contributions for a match of up to 2.25% of eligible compensation.