Other Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Other Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

OTHER EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS (In Thousands)

Arrow maintains an employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”). Substantially all employees of Arrow and its subsidiaries are eligible to participate upon satisfaction of applicable service requirements. The ESOP borrowed funds from one of Arrow’s subsidiary banks to purchase outstanding shares of Arrow’s common stock. The notes require annual payments of principal and interest through 2018.



	2011		2010		2009
Amount Borrowed by the Company's ESOP during the year	$	—	$	1,000	$	—
ESOP Expense	550		500		500

As the debt is repaid, shares are released from collateral based on the proportion of debt paid to total debt outstanding for the year and allocated to active employees.

Shares pledged as collateral are reported as unallocated ESOP shares in stockholders’ equity. As shares are released from collateral, Arrow reports compensation expense equal to the current average market price of the shares, and the shares become outstanding for earnings per share computations. The ESOP shares as of December 31, 2011 were as follows:



Allocated Shares	715
Shares Released for Allocation During 2011	18
Unallocated Shares	118
Total ESOP Shares	851

Market Value of Unallocated Shares	$	2,987

Under the employee stock purchase plan (“ESPP”), employees may purchase shares of Arrow’s common stock, up to $24 annually, of which $12 annually can be purchased at a discount to the prevailing market price (currently a 5% discount). Under the ESPP, shares are issued by Arrow without a charge to earnings. Substantially all employees of Arrow and its subsidiaries are eligible to participate upon satisfaction of applicable service requirements. Arrow also sponsors a Long-Term Incentive Award Plan and a Short-Term Incentive Award Plan for senior management and a Profit Sharing Plan for substantially all employees.



	2011		2010		2009
Other Employee Benefit Plan Expense	$	1,244	$	1,087	$	999

- Definition

The entire disclosure for compensation costs, including compensated absences accruals, compensated absences liability, deferred compensation arrangements and income statement compensation items. Deferred compensation arrangements may include a description of an arrangement with an individual employee, which is generally an employment contract between the entity and a selected officer or key employee containing a promise by the employer to pay certain amounts at designated future dates, usually including a period after retirement, upon compliance with stipulated requirements. This type of arrangement is distinguished from broader based employee benefit plans as it is usually tailored to the employee. Disclosure also typically includes the amount of related compensation expense recognized during the reporting period, the number of shares (units) issued during the period under such arrangements, and the carrying amount as of the balance sheet date of the related liability.

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