Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2011

Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

3. Employee Benefit Plans

The Company provides postretirement medical, dental and vision benefits (the “Plan”) for eligible regular full and part-time domestic employees (including spouses) outlined by the plan. Postretirement benefits are provided only if the employee was hired prior to April 1, 2008, and retires on or after attainment of age 55 with 15 years of credited service. Credited service begins accruing at the later of age 40 or date of hire. All active employees first eligible to retire after July 31, 1992, are covered by an unfunded, contributory postretirement healthcare plan where employer contributions will not exceed a defined dollar benefit amount, regardless of the cost of the program. Employer contributions to the plan are based on the employee’s age and service at retirement.

The accounting guidance on defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans requires full recognition of the funded status of defined benefit and other postretirement plans on the balance sheet as an asset or a liability. The guidance also continues to require that unrecognized prior service costs/credits, gains/losses, and transition obligations/assets be recorded in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income, thus not changing the income statement recognition rules for such plans.

The Plan is unfunded and recorded as a liability in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as of July 31, 2011 and 2010. The following table provides a reconciliation of the changes in the Plan’s accumulated benefit obligations during the years ended July 31:

	2011			2010
Obligation at beginning of year	$	15,277		$	14,311
Service cost		666			662
Interest cost		694			795
Actuarial (gain)/loss		(955	)		967
Benefit payments		(671	)		(834	)
Plan amendments		—			(169	)
Settlements		—			(455	)
Obligation at end of fiscal year	$	15,011		$	15,277

The voluntary retiree medical savings account plan was terminated effective December 31, 2009. Employer match account balances were prorated and paid to participants through a settlement of $455, and the remaining reduction in the liability resulted in a plan amendment of $169 as of July 31, 2010.

As of July 31, 2011 and 2010, amounts recognized as liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets consist of:

	2011		2010
Current liability	$	1,054	$	1,060
Noncurrent liability		13,957		14,217
	$	15,011	$	15,277

As of July 31, 2011 and 2010, pre-tax amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets consist of:

	2011		2010
Net actuarial gain	$	3,131	$	2,252
Prior service credit		503		585
	$	3,634	$	2,837

Net periodic benefit cost for the Plan for fiscal years 2011, 2010, and 2009 includes the following components:

	Years Ended July 31,
	2011			2010			2009
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost included the following components:
Service cost — benefits attributed to service during the period	$	666		$	662		$	672
Prior service credit		(82	)		(64	)		(70	)
Interest cost on accumulated postretirement benefit obligation		694			795			842
Amortization of unrecognized gain		(76	)		(206	)		(308	)
Curtailment loss		—			—			393
Periodic postretirement benefit cost	$	1,202		$	1,187		$	1,529

The estimated actuarial gain and prior service credit that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive income into net periodic postretirement benefit cost over the next fiscal year are $178 and $82, respectively. The termination of the voluntary retiree medical savings account plan resulted in a reduction in the liability for the one-time settlement of $455 and the one-time plan amendment of $169 as of July 31, 2010. The reduction in workforce resulted in a one-time curtailment gain of $679 and the accelerated recognition of the previously unrecognized prior service cost of $106, offset by a one-time separation benefit charge of $1,178, resulting in a net curtailment loss of $393 as of July 31, 2009.

The following assumptions were used in accounting for the Plan:

	2011			2010			2009
Weighted average discount rate used in determining accumulated postretirement benefit obligation liability		4.5	%		4.5	%		5.5	%
Weighted average discount rate used in determining net periodic benefit cost		4.5	%		5.5	%		6.8	%
Assumed health care trend rate used to measure APBO at July 31		8.0	%		8.0	%		8.0	%
Rate to which cost trend rate is assumed to decline (the ultimate trend rate)		5.5	%		5.5	%		5.5	%
Fiscal year the ultimate trend rate is reached		2017			2016			2015

The assumed health care cost trend rate has a significant effect on the amounts reported for the Plan. A one-percentage point change in assumed health care cost trend rates would have the following effects:

	One-Percentage		One-Percentage
	Point Increase		Point Decrease
Effect on future service and interest cost	$	13	$	(12	)
Effect on accumulated postretirement benefit obligation at July 31, 2011		185		(170	)

The following benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, are expected to be paid during the years ending July 31:

2012	$	1,054
2013		1,084
2014		1,148
2015		1,234
2016		1,304
2017 through 2021		7,791

The Company has retirement and profit-sharing plans covering substantially all full-time domestic employees and certain of its foreign subsidiaries. Contributions to the plans are determined annually or quarterly, according to the respective plans, based on earnings of the respective companies and employee contributions. At July 31, 2011 and 2010, $7,293 and $7,540, respectively, of accrued retirement and profit-sharing contributions were included in other current liabilities and other long-term liabilities on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

The Company also has deferred compensation plans for directors, officers and key executives which are discussed below. At July 31, 2011 and 2010, $12,299 and $10,398, respectively, of deferred compensation was included in current and other long-term liabilities in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

During fiscal 1998, the Company adopted a new deferred compensation plan that invests solely in shares of the Company’s Class A Nonvoting Common Stock. Participants in a predecessor phantom stock plan were allowed to convert their balances in the old plan to this new plan. The new plan was funded initially by the issuance of shares of Class A Nonvoting Common Stock to a Rabbi Trust. All deferrals into the new plan result in purchases of Class A Nonvoting Common Stock by the Rabbi Trust. No deferrals are allowed into a predecessor plan. Shares held by the Rabbi Trust are distributed to participants upon separation from the Company as defined in the plan agreement.

During fiscal 2002, the Company adopted a new deferred compensation plan that allows future contributions to be invested in shares of the Company’s Class A Nonvoting Common Stock or in certain other investment vehicles. Prior deferred compensation deferrals must remain in the Company’s Class A Nonvoting Common Stock. All participant deferrals into the new plan result in purchases of Class A Nonvoting Common Stock or certain other investment vehicles by the Rabbi Trust. Balances held by the Rabbi Trust are distributed to participants upon separation from the Company as defined in the plan agreement. On May 1, 2006, the plan was amended to require that deferrals into the Company’s Class A Nonvoting Common Stock must remain in the Company’s Class A Nonvoting Common Stock and be distributed in shares of the Company’s Class A Nonvoting Common Stock.

The amounts charged to expense for the retirement and profit sharing described above were $14,911, $12,547, and $11,765 during the years ended July 31, 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively.