Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Note 17 - Employee Benefits Plan

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Note 17 - Employee Benefits Plan
12 Months Ended
Oct. 31, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements  
Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]
Note
17.
Employee Benefits Plan
 
Retirement plans
 
The Company offers a
401
(k) plan, which covers substantially all employees in the U.S., with the exception of certain union employees. Participating employees
may
elect to contribute, on a tax-deferred basis, a portion of their compensation, in accordance with Section
401
(k) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Company generally provides some form of a matching contribution for most employees in the U.S. Retirement plan contributions for the Successor period from
December 6, 2018
through
October 31, 2019
were
$0.8
million. For the Predecessor period from
November 1, 2018
through
December 5, 2018
and the fiscal year ended
October 31, 2018,
retirement plan contributions were
$0.1
million and
$0.6
million, respectively.
 
Camfaud operates a Small Self-Administered Scheme (SSAS), which is the equivalent of a U.S. defined contribution pension plan. The assets of the plan are held separately from those of Camfaud in an independently administered fund. Contributions by Camfaud to the SSAS amounted to
$0.2
million for the Successor period from
December 6, 2018
through
October 31, 2019.
For the Predecessor period from
November 1, 2018
through
December 5, 2018
and the fiscal year ended
October 31, 2018
contributions amounted to
$0.1
million and
$0.2
million, respectively.
 
Multiemployer plans
 
Our U.S. Concrete Pumping segment contributes to a number of multiemployer defined benefit pension plans under the terms of collective-bargaining agreements (CBAs) that cover its union-represented employees. The risks of participating in these multiemployer plans are different from single-employer plans in the following aspects: (a) Assets contributed to the multiemployer plan by
one
employer
may
be used to provide benefits to employees of other participating employers; (b) If a participating employer stops contributing to the plan, the unfunded obligations of the plan
may
be borne by the remaining participating employers; and (c) If we choose to stop participating in some of its multiemployer plans, we
may
be required to pay those plans an amount based on the underfunded status of the plan, referred to as a withdrawal liability. We have
no
intention of stopping our participation in any multiemployer plan.
 
The following is a summary of our contributions to each multiemployer pension plan for the years ended
October 31, 2019
and
2018:
 
   
Successor and Predecessor
   
Predecessor
 
(in thousands)
 
Year Ended October 31, 2019
   
Year Ended October 31, 2018
 
California
  $
581
    $
492
 
Oregon
   
288
     
233
 
Washington
   
242
     
217
 
Total contributions
  $
1,111
    $
942
 
 
No
plan was determined to be individually significant. There have been
no
significant changes that affect the comparability of the contributions. The Company reviews the funded status of each multiemployer defined benefit pension plan at each reporting period to monitor the certified zone status for each of the multiemployer defined benefit pension plans. The zone status for the multiemployer defined benefit pension plans for Oregon and Washington was Green (greater than
80
percent funded) and for California it was Yellow (less than
80
percent funded but greater than
65
percent funded).
The funding status for the Oregon and Washington multiemployer defined benefit pension plans is at
January 1, 2019
and for the California multiemployer defined benefit pension plan is at
July 1, 2019.
 
Government regulations impose certain requirements relative to multiemployer plans. In the event of plan termination or employer withdrawal, an employer
may
be liable for a portion of the plan’s unfunded vested benefits. We have
not
received information from the plans’ administrators to determine its share of unfunded vested benefits. We do
not
anticipate withdrawal from the plans, nor are we aware of any expected plan terminations.
 
If the construction industry exception applies, then it would delay the imposition of a withdrawal liability. The “construction industry” exception generally delays the imposition of withdrawal liability in connection with an employer’s withdrawal from a “construction industry” multiemployer plan unless and until that employer resumes covered operations in the relevant geographic region without a corresponding resumption of contributions to the multiemployer plan. The Company has
no
intention of withdrawing, in either a complete or partial withdrawal, from any of the multiemployer plans to which the Company currently contributes;
however, it has been assessed a withdrawal liability in the past.