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Benefit Plans
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Benefit Plans  
Benefit Plans

15. Benefit Plans

        The building employees are covered by multi-employer defined benefit pension plans and post-retirement health and welfare plans. We participate in the Building Service 32BJ, or Union, Pension Plan and Health Plan. The Pension Plan is a multi-employer, non-contributory defined benefit pension plan that was established under the terms of collective bargaining agreements between the Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ, the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc. and certain other employees. This Pension Plan is administered by a joint board of trustees consisting of union trustees and employer trustees and operates under employer identification number 13-1879376. The Pension Plan year runs from July 1 to June 30. Employers contribute to the Pension Plan at a fixed rate on behalf of each covered employee. Separate actuarial information regarding such pension plans is not made available to the contributing employers by the union administrators or trustees, since the plans do not maintain separate records for each reporting unit. However, on September 28, 2011 and September 28, 2012, the actuary certified that for the plan years beginning July 1, 2011 and July 1, 2012, respectively, the Pension Plan was in critical status under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The Pension Plan trustees adopted a rehabilitation plan consistent with this requirement. No surcharges have been paid to the Pension Plan as of December 31, 2012. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, the Pension Plan received contributions from employers totaling $212.7 million, $201.3 million and $193.3 million, respectively.

        The Health Plan was established under the terms of collective bargaining agreements between the Union, the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc. and certain other employers. The Health Plan provides health and other benefits to eligible participants employed in the building service industry who are covered under collective bargaining agreements, or other written agreements, with the Union. The Health Plan is administered by a Board of Trustees with equal representation by the employers and the Union and operates under employer identification number 13-2928869. The Health Plan receives contributions in accordance with collective bargaining agreements or participation agreements. Generally, these agreements provide that the employers contribute to the Health Plan at a fixed rate on behalf of each covered employee. Pursuant to the contribution diversion provision in the collective bargaining agreements, the collective bargaining parties agreed, beginning January 1, 2009, to divert to the Pension Plan $1.95 million of employer contributions per quarter that would have been due to the Health Plan. Effective October 1, 2010, the diversion of contributions was discontinued. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, the Health Plan received contributions from employers totaling $893.3 million, $843.2 million and $770.8 million, respectively.

        Contributions we made to the multi-employer plans for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 are included in the table below (amounts in thousands):

Benefit Plan
  2012   2011   2010  

Pension Plan

  $ 2,506   $ 2,264   $ 1,835  

Health Plan

    8,020     6,919     5,754  

Other plans

    6,025     5,111     4,143  
               

Total plan contributions

  $ 16,551   $ 14,294   $ 11,732  
               

401(K) Plan

        In August 1997, we implemented a 401(K) Savings/Retirement Plan, or the 401(K) Plan, to cover eligible employees of ours, and any designated affiliate. The 401(K) Plan permits eligible employees to defer up to 15% of their annual compensation, subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code. The employees' elective deferrals are immediately vested and non-forfeitable upon contribution to the 401(K) Plan. During 2000, we amended our 401(K) Plan to include a matching contribution, subject to ERISA limitations, equal to 50% of the first 4% of annual compensation deferred by an employee. During 2003, we amended our 401(K) Plan to provide for discretionary matching contributions only. For 2012, 2011 and 2010, a matching contribution equal to 50% of the first 6% of annual compensation was made. For the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, we made matching contributions of approximately $561,000, $502,000 and $450,000, respectively.