Note 16 - Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Text Block]

16. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

401(k) Plan and Cash Incentives

IGT maintains a salary deferral 401(k) plan that allows eligible employees to contribute up to 40% of their base pay up to the IRS prescribed limit. IGT matches 100% of employee contributions, up to $750 per year, which vest immediately. IGT may also contribute a discretionary amount of profits to eligible employees, which vest over a six-year period. Cash bonuses are paid annually to eligible management employees and cash sharing is distributed to non-management employees annually. Charges recorded for these plans totaled $44.5 million in 2012, $39.7 million in 2011, and $24.3 million in 2010.

Additionally, IGT implemented a non-qualified deferred compensation plan in September 1999, which provides an unfunded incentive compensation arrangement for eligible management and highly compensated employees. Participants may elect to defer up to 50% of their annual earnings with a minimum deferral of $2,000. Distributions can be paid out as short-term payments or at retirement. Retirement benefits can be paid out as a lump sum or in annual installments over a term of up to 15 years.

Share-based Compensation

See Note 1 for plan descriptions and accounting measurement methods.

SIP As Of And For The Year Ended September 30, 2012

				Weighted Average
Options	Shares			Exercise Price		Remaining Contractual Term		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
	(thousands)			(per share)		(years)		(millions)
Outstanding at beginning of fiscal year		15,245		$	18.85
Granted		294			16.21
Exercised		(827	)		12.04
Forfeited		(683	)		16.45
Expired		(1,912	)		26.86
Outstanding at end of period		12,117		$	18.12		6.0	$	5.3
Vested and expected to vest		11,932		$	18.15		5.9	$	5.3
Exercisable at end of period		7,320		$	19.59		4.9	$	3.6

				Weighted Average
Restricted Shares/Units	Shares			Grant Date Fair Value		Remaining Vesting Period		Aggregate Intrinsic Value
	(thousands)			(per share)		(years)		(millions)
Outstanding at beginning of fiscal year		3,388		$	15.26
Granted		2,815			15.05
Vested		(708	)		17.40
Forfeited		(662	)		14.58
Outstanding at end of period		4,833		$	14.93		1.3	$	63.3
Expected to vest		4,567		$	14.93		1.3	$	59.8

Option Valuation Assumptions

Years Ended September 30,	2012			2011			2010
Expected volatility		0.47			0.44			0.52
Expected dividends		1.48	%		1.53	%		1.28	%
Expected term (in years)		4.7			4.6			4.4
Risk free rate		0.85	%		1.73	%		1.62	%

Reported Share-based Compensation

Years Ended September 30,	2012			2011			2010
Pre-tax	$	33.2		$	43.8		$	41.9
Tax benefit		(10.4	)		(13.6	)		(13.1	)
After-tax	$	22.8		$	30.2		$	28.8

Other Share-based Compensation Information

Years Ended September 30,	2012		2011		2010
Weighted average grant date fair value per share:
Options granted	$	5.70	$	5.33	$	7.34
Restricted shares granted	$	15.05	$	14.25	$	18.20
Total intrinsic value of options exercised	$	3.8	$	5.6	$	4.5
Total fair value of restricted shares vested		11.6		14.9		14.3
Tax benefit realized for tax return deductions		5.5		7.1		8.1

Other Information
Shares available for future grant (million)		28.4
Unrecognized costs for outstanding awards (million)	$	63.8
Weighted average future recognition period (years)		1.7

Approximately 0.2 million shares were issued in February 2012 under the ESPP. At September 30, 2012, 1.0 million shares were available for future grants and we expected to issue approximately 0.2 million shares in February 2013 under this plan.

Additionally, eligible UK employees may enroll in the International Game Technology Savings Related Share Option Scheme established in January 1999 (formerly the Barcrest Savings Related Share Option Scheme). Employees must elect to vest over three, five, or seven years and the option price is equal to 80% of the market price of our stock on the grant date. Approximately 120,000 shares were issued during 2012 under this plan and approximately 388,000 shares were available for grant at September 30, 2012. Based on enrollment through September 30, 2012, we expect to issue approximately 10,000 shares under this plan over the next three years.