Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans

12 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2011

Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans [Abstract]

Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans

12. Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plans

The Company has two unfunded defined benefit retirement plans. Retirement benefits generally vest when the participant has completed 20 years of service with the Company and reaches normal retirement age (age 62). Unrecognized prior service costs are being amortized over the period from the date participants enter the plans until their interests are fully vested. The Company used a 4.06%, 4.99% and 5.30% discount rate in its calculation of the present value of its projected benefit obligations at October 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively, which represented the approximate long-term investment rate at October 31 of the fiscal year for which the present value was calculated. Information related to the plans is based on actuarial information calculated as of October 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009.

Information related to the Company’s defined benefit retirement plans for each of the fiscal years ended October 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 is as follows (amounts in thousands):

	2011			2010			2009
Plan costs:
Service cost	$	305		$	270		$	132
Interest cost		1,290			1,396			1,366
Amortization of prior service cost		694			1,248			1,076
Acceleration of benefits					72
Amortization of unrecognized gains								(1,272	)
	$	2,289		$	2,986		$	1,302
Projected benefit obligation:
Beginning of year	$	26,037		$	25,161		$	19,005
Plan amendments adopted during year					202
Service cost		305			270			132
Interest cost		1,290			1,396			1,366
Benefit payments		(504	)		(125	)		(125	)
Change in unrecognized gain/loss		2,638			(867	)		4,783
Projected benefit obligation, end of year	$	29,766		$	26,037		$	25,161
Unamortized prior service cost:
Beginning of year	$	4,027		$	5,145		$	6,221
Plan amendments adopted during year					130
Amortization of prior service cost		(694	)		(1,248	)		(1,076	)
Unamortized prior service cost, end of year	$	3,333		$	4,027		$	5,145
Accumulated unrecognized (loss) gain, October 31	$	(1,064	)	$	1,574		$	707
Accumulated benefit obligation, October 31	$	29,766		$	26,037		$	25,161
Accrued benefit obligation, October 31	$	29,766		$	26,037		$	25,161

The table below provides, based upon the estimated retirement dates of the participants in the unfunded defined benefit retirement plans, the amounts of benefits the Company would be required to pay in each of the next five fiscal years and for the five fiscal years ended October 31, 2021 in the aggregate (in thousands).

Year ending October 31,	Amount
2012	$	641
2013	$	1,551
2014	$	1,638
2015	$	1,645
2016	$	1,761
November 1, 2016 - October 31, 2021	$	11,522

The Company maintains salary deferral savings plans covering substantially all employees. The plans provide for discretionary Company contributions of up to 2% of all eligible compensation, plus 2% of eligible compensation above the Social Security wage base, plus matching contributions of up to 2% of eligible compensation of employees electing to contribute via salary deferrals. During the first quarter of fiscal 2009, due to the continued downturn in the Company’s business, the Company suspended its matching contributions and discretionary contributions to one of the plans. In fiscal 2011, the Company elected to make a discretionary contribution for the plans year ended December 31, 2010, and beginning in the third quarter of fiscal 2011, to resume a matching contribution of eligible compensation of employees electing to contribute via salary deferrals. The Company recognized an expense, net of plan forfeitures, with respect to the plans of $2.7 million and $0.5 million for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2011 and 2009, respectively. The Company recognized $38,000 of expense for one plan in fiscal 2010.

The Company has an unfunded, non-qualified deferred compensation plan that permits eligible employees to defer a portion of their compensation. The deferred compensation, together with certain Company contributions, earns various rates of return depending upon when the compensation was deferred and the length of time that it has been deferred. A portion of the deferred compensation and interest earned may be forfeited by a participant if he or she elects to withdraw the compensation prior to the end of the deferral period. At October 31, 2011 and 2010, the Company had accrued $19.1 million and $18.4 million, respectively, for its obligations under the plan.