Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Compensation And Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

16. Employee Benefit Plans

Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan: The Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) is a defined contribution plan covering all employees except employees covered by collective bargaining agreements and certain employees of our consolidated construction joint ventures. Each employee’s combined pre-tax 401(k) and post-tax (Roth) contributions cannot exceed 50% of their eligible pay or Internal Revenue Code annual contribution limits. Our 401(k) matching contributions can be up to 6% of an employee’s gross pay at the discretion of the Board of Directors. Our 401(k) matching contributions to the 401(k) Plan for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 were $13.4 million, $12.1 million and $11.0 million, respectively. Profit sharing contributions from the Company may be made to the 401(k) Plan in an amount determined by the Board of Directors. We made no profit sharing contributions during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.

Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan: We offer a Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan (“NQDC Plan”) to a select group of our highly compensated employees and non-employee directors. The NQDC Plan provides participants the opportunity to defer payment of certain compensation as defined in the NQDC Plan. In October 2008, a Rabbi Trust was established to fund our NQDC Plan obligation and was fully funded as of December 31, 2018. The assets held by the Rabbi Trust at December 31, 2018 and 2017 are substantially in the form of Company-owned life insurance and are included in other noncurrent assets in the consolidated balance sheets. As of December 31, 2018, there were 56 active participants in the NQDC Plan. NQDC Plan obligations were $25.2 million as of December 31, 2018, of which $3.6 million were due in early 2019 that were assumed from the Layne acquisition and were included in accrued and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets. NQDC plan obligations were $24.7 million as of December 31, 2017. As of December 31, 2018, $3.6 million of the NQDC Plan obligations were assumed from Layne acquisitions and were due in early 2019. In addition, with the acquisition of Layne we assumed liabilities related to supplemental retirement benefits of approximately $5.0 million that was included in other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

Multi-employer Pension Plans: Five of our wholly owned subsidiaries, Granite Construction Company, Granite Construction Northeast, Inc., Granite Industrial, Inc., Kenny Construction Company and Layne Christensen Company contribute to various multi-employer pension plans on behalf of union employees. The risks of participating in these multiemployer plans are different from single-employer plans in the following aspects:

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Assets contributed to the multi-employer plan by one employer may be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers.

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If a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan may be borne by the remaining participating employers.

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If we chose to stop participating in some of the multi-employer plans, we may be required to pay those plans an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability.

The following table presents our participation in these plans (dollars in thousands):

		Pension Protection Act (“PPA”) Certified Zone Status¹			Contributions
Pension Trust Fund	Pension Plan Employer Identification Number	2018	2017	FIP / RP Status Pending / Implemented²	2018		2017		2016		Surcharge Imposed	Expiration Date of Collective Bargaining Agreement³
Locals 302 and 612 iUOE-Employers Construction Industry Retirement Plan	91-6028571	Green	Green	No	$	4,726	$	3,646	$	3,113	No	12/31/2019 5/31/2021
Pension Trust Fund for Operating Engineers Pension Plan	94-6090764	Yellow	Red	Yes		11,363		10,431		9,266	No	6/30/2019 5/15/2020 6/15/2020 6/30/2020 9/30/2020 1/31/2021 10/31/2021
Operating Engineers Pension Trust Fund	95-6032478	Yellow	Yellow	Yes		4,251		4,692		5,357	No	6/30/2019
Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Northern California	94-6277608	Green	Yellow	Yes		3,009		2,464		2,215	No	6/30/2023
Construction Laborers Pension Trust for Southern California	43-6159056	Green	Green	No		2,110		2,002		2,095	No	6/30/2021
Laborers Pension Fund	36-2514514	Green	Green	No		2,458		3,208		2,328	No	5/31/2021
All other funds (44 as of December 31, 2018)						15,994		10,341		8,708
			Total Contributions:		$	43,911	$	36,784	$	33,082

¹The most recent PPA zone status available in 2018 and 2017 is for the plan’s year-end during 2017 and 2016, respectively. The zone status is based on information that we received from the plan and is certified by the plan’s actuary. Among other factors, plans in the red zone are generally less than 65 percent funded, plans in the orange zone are less than 80 percent funded and have an Accumulated Funding Deficiency in the current year or projected into the next six years, plans in the yellow zone are less than 80 percent funded, and plans in the green zone are at least 80 percent funded.

²The “FIP/RP Status Pending/Implemented” column indicates plans for which a financial improvement plan (“FIP”) or a rehabilitation plan (“RP”) is either pending or has been implemented.

³Lists the expiration date(s) of the collective-bargaining agreement(s) to which the plans are subject. Pension trust funds with a range of expiration dates have various collective bargaining agreements. Expired collective bargaining agreements are under negotiation.

Based upon the most recently available annual reports, the Company’s contribution to each of the individually significant plans listed in the table above was less than 5% of each plan’s total contributions. We currently have no intention of withdrawing from any of the multi-employer pension plans in which we participate that would result in a significant withdrawal liability. In addition, we do not have any significant future obligations or funding requirements related to these plans other than the ongoing contributions that are paid as hours are worked by plan participants.