Retirement Benefits

9 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Retirement Benefits

Note 16 – Retirement Benefits

Plan Descriptions

Retirement savings plan

We provide the Harman International Industries, Incorporated Retirement Savings Plan (the "Savings Plan") for certain employees in the United States. Under the Savings Plan, employees may contribute up to 50 percent of their pretax compensation subject to certain limitations. Each business unit will make a safe harbor non-elective contribution in an amount equal to three percent of a participant's eligible contribution. Each business unit may make a matching contribution of up to three percent (50 percent on the first six percent of an employee's tax-deferred contribution) and, upon approval of our Board of Directors, a profit sharing contribution. Matching and profit sharing contributions vest at a rate of 25 percent for each year of service with the employer, beginning with the second year of service. Approval for the profit sharing contribution is requested from our Board of Directors at the end of each fiscal year. Management eliminated the profit sharing contribution as of December 28, 2010. No amount has been accrued for the profit sharing contribution for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011.

Pension benefits

We provide defined pension benefits to certain eligible employees. The measurement date used for determining pension benefits is the last day of our fiscal year, June 30. We have certain business units in Europe that maintain defined benefit pension plans for a number of our current and former employees. The coverage provided and the extent to which the retirees' share in the cost of the program vary by business unit. Generally, plan benefits are based on age, years of service and average compensation during the final years of service. In the United States, we have a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (the "SERP") that provides retirement, death and termination benefits, as defined in the SERP, to certain key executives designated by our Board of Directors. The majority of our defined benefit pension plans do not have contractual or statutory provisions which specify minimum funding requirements. We are in compliance with all existing contractual obligations and statutory provisions.

The following table presents the components of net periodic benefit cost for the three and nine months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011:

	Three Months Ended March 31,						Nine Months Ended March 31,
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Service cost	$	391		$	635		$	1,204		$	1,876
Interest cost		1,956			2,051			5,963			6,089
Expected return on plan assets		(60	)		(54	)		(179	)		(163	)
Amortization of prior service cost		352			352			1,055			1,055
Amortization of net loss		448			555			1,345			1,663
Net periodic benefit cost	$	3,087		$	3,539		$	9,388		$	10,520

During the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, we made contributions of $2.1 million and $2.0 million, respectively, to the defined benefit pension plans, substantially all of which were paid to participants. During the nine months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, we made contributions of $6.4 million and $5.8 million, respectively, to the defined benefit pension plans, substantially all of which were paid to participants. We expect to make approximately $2.3 million in contributions for the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.