Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2012

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure

Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans

Salary Deferral Savings Plans

The Company maintains salary deferral savings plans covering substantially all employees. During the first quarter of fiscal 2009, due to the continued downturn in the Company’s business, the Company suspended its matching contributions and discretionary contributions to one of the plans. In fiscal 2011, the Company elected to make a discretionary contribution of 1% of eligible compensation for the plan year ended December 31, 2010. The Company made a 1% discretionary contribution for the plan year ended December 31, 2011 and for the plan year ended December 31, 2012 it intends to make a contribution of 2% of eligible compensation. Beginning in the third quarter of fiscal 2011, the Company resumed a matching contribution of up to 1% of eligible compensation for employees electing to contribute via salary deferrals and increased the matching contribution to 2% in January 2012. The Company recognized an expense, net of plan forfeitures, with respect to the plans of $5.0 million and $2.7 million for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. The Company recognized $38,000 of expense for one plan in fiscal 2010.

Deferred Compensation Plan

The Company has an unfunded, non-qualified deferred compensation plan that permits eligible employees to defer a portion of their compensation. The deferred compensation, together with certain Company contributions, earns various rates of return depending upon when the compensation was deferred and the length of time that it has been deferred. A portion of the deferred compensation and interest earned may be forfeited by a participant if he or she elects to withdraw the compensation prior to the end of the deferral period. At October 31, 2012 and 2011, the Company had accrued $20.7 million and $19.1 million, respectively, for its obligations under the plan.

Defined Benefit Retirement Plans

The Company has two unfunded defined benefit retirement plans. Retirement benefits generally vest when the participant has completed 15 or 20 years of service with the Company and reaches normal retirement age (age 62). Unrecognized prior service costs are being amortized over the period from the date participants enter the plans until their interests are fully vested. The Company used a 3.07%, 4.06% and 4.99% discount rate in its calculation of the present value of its projected benefit obligations at October 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The rates represent the approximate long-term investment rate at October 31 of the fiscal year for which the present value was calculated. Information related to the plans is based on actuarial information calculated as of October 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

Information related to the Company’s retirement plans for each of the fiscal years ended October 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 is as follows (amounts in thousands):

	2012			2011			2010
Plan costs:
Service cost	$	389		$	305		$	270
Interest cost	1,212			1,290			1,396
Amortization of prior service cost	737			694			1,248
Acceleration of benefits							72
Amortization of unrecognized losses	66
	$	2,404		$	2,289		$	2,986
Projected benefit obligation:
Beginning of year	$	29,766		$	26,037		$	25,161
Plan amendments adopted during year	575						202
Service cost	389			305			270
Interest cost	1,212			1,290			1,396
Benefit payments	(731		)	(504		)	(125		)
Change in unrecognized loss (gain)	3,108			2,638			(867		)
Projected benefit obligation, end of year	$	34,319		$	29,766		$	26,037
Unamortized prior service cost:
Beginning of year	$	3,333		$	4,027		$	5,145
Plan amendments adopted during year	575						130
Amortization of prior service cost	(737		)	(694		)	(1,248		)
Unamortized prior service cost, end of year	$	3,171		$	3,333		$	4,027
Accumulated unrecognized (loss) gain, October 31	$	(4,307	)	$	(1,265	)	$	1,372
Accumulated benefit obligation, October 31	$	34,319		$	29,766		$	26,037
Accrued benefit obligation, October 31	$	34,319		$	29,766		$	26,037

The table below provides, based upon the estimated retirement dates of the participants in the retirement plans, the amounts of benefits the Company would be required to pay in each of the next five fiscal years and for the five fiscal years ended October 31, 2022 in the aggregate (in thousands).

Year ending October 31,	Amount
2013	$	955
2014	$	1,042
2015	$	1,645
2016	$	1,770
2017	$	2,028
November 1, 2017 - October 31, 2022	$	12,247