Note 16: EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

The Company has a qualified, defined benefit, noncontributory pension plan for certain U.S. employees not covered by union pension plans. The Company’s subsidiaries in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom provide defined retirement benefits to eligible employees. The Company also provides health and life insurance to a limited number of eligible retirees and eligible survivors of retirees.

The Company’s defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit costs and obligations are dependent on assumptions used by actuaries in calculating such amounts. These assumptions, which are reviewed annually, include discount rates, long-term expected rates of return on plan assets and expected rates of increase in compensation. Assumed discount rates, based on market interest rates on long-term fixed income debt securities of highly-rated corporations, are used to calculate the present value of benefit payments which are projected to be made in the future, including projections of increases in employees’ annual compensation and health care costs. A decrease in the discount rate would increase the Company’s obligation and expense. The long-term expected rate of return on plan assets is based principally on prior performance and future expectations for various types of investments as well as the expected long-term allocation of assets. Changes in the allocation of plan assets would impact the expected rate of return. The expected rate of increase in compensation is based upon movements in inflation rates as reflected by market interest rates. Benefits paid to participants are based upon age, years of credited service and average compensation or negotiated benefit rates.

Assets of the Company’s U.S. defined benefit plan are invested in a directed trust. Assets in the trust are invested in domestic and foreign equity securities of corporations (including $8,462,400 of the Company’s Common Stock at November 30, 2007), U.S. government obligations, derivative securities, corporate bonds and money market funds.The subsidiaries in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom contract with third-party insurance companies to pay benefits to retirees.

During the year ended November 30, 2007, the Company adopted the provisions of SFAS No. 158, "Employers’Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans," amending FASB Statement No. 87, “Employers’Accounting for Pensions,” FASB Statement No. 88, “Employers’Accounting for Settlements and Curtailments of Defined Benefit Pension Plans and for Termination Benefits,” FASB Statement No. 106, “Employers’ Accounting for Postretirement Benefits Other Than Pensions,” and FASB Statement No. 132, “Employers’ Disclosures about Pensions and Other Postretirement Benefits.” SFAS No. 158 requires a company to recognize the overfunded or underfunded status of a defined benefit postretirement plan (other than a multiemployer plan) as an asset or liability in its financial statements and to recognize changes in that status in the year in which the changes occur. SFAS No. 158 also requires a company to measure the funded status of a plan as of the date of its year-end financial statements. The incremental effect of applying SFAS No. 158 on individual line items to the Company’s balance sheet as of November 30, 2007, including tax effects,was as follows:

The pretax amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income after the adoption of SFAS No. 158 include the following as of November 30, 2007:

The Company’s estimates of 2008 amortization of amounts included in accumulated other comprehensive income are as follows:

Pension Benefits

The following sets forth the change in benefit obligation, change in plan assets, funded status and amounts recognized in the balance sheets as of November 30, 2007 and 2006 for the Company's U.S. and non-U.S. defined benefit retirement plans:

The Company contributed $3,000,000 to the U.S. pension plan and $719,000 to the non-U.S. pension plans in 2007. The Company expects to contribute approximately $3,000,000 to its U.S. pension plan and $1,200,000 to the non-U.S. pension plans in 2008.

Expected future pension benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, were as follows as of November 30, 2007:

Net periodic benefit costs for the Company's defined benefit retirement plans for 2007, 2006 and 2005 included the following components:

The following table provides the weighted-average assumptions used to compute the actuarial net periodic benefit cost:

The following table shows the Company's target allocation range for the U.S. defined benefit pension plan, along with the actual allocations, as of November 30,

Approximately 13% of the Company’s employees are covered by union-sponsored, collectively-bargained, multi-employer pension plans. Related to these plans, the Company contributed and charged to expense $2,000,000, $3,000,000, and $2,650,000 in 2007, 2006, and 2005, respectively.These contributions are determined in accordance with the provisions of negotiated labor contracts and generally are based on the number of hours worked.The Company has no intention of withdrawing from any of these plans, nor is there any intention to terminate such plans.

The Company provides to certain employees a savings plan under Section 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.The savings plan allows for deferral of income through contributions to the plan, within certain restrictions. Company matching contributions are in the form of cash. In 2007, 2006, and 2005, the Company recorded expense for matching contributions of $648,000, $1,387,000, and $422,000, respectively.

Postretirement Benefits

The following sets forth the change in benefit obligation, change in plan assets, funded status and amounts recognized in the balance sheets as of November 30, 2007 and 2006 for the Company's U.S. postretirement health care and life insurance benefits. The measurement date of plan assets and obligations is October 1 for each year presented:

Post-Retirement Benefits

The following sets forth the change in benefit obligation, change in plan assets, funded status and amounts recognized in the balance sheets as of November 30, 2007 and 2006 for the Company's U.S. postretirement health care and life insurance benefits. The measurement date of plan assets and obligations is October 1 for each year presented:

Expected future benefit payments,which reflect expected future service,were as follows as of November 30, 2007:

Net periodic benefit costs for the Company's postretirement health care and life insurance benefits for 2007, 2006 and 2005 included the following components:

The following table provides the weighted-average assumptions used to compute the actuarial present value of projected benefit obligations:

The following table provides the weighted-average assumptions used to compute the actuarial net periodic benefit cost:

In 2003, the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (the "Act") was signed into law. The Act introduces a Medicare prescription drug benefit beginning in 2006 as well as a federal subsidy to sponsors of retirement health care plans that provide a benefit at least actuarially equivalent to the Medicare benefit. The effect of the Act did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial statements.

The assumed health care cost trend increased from 9% to 10% in 2007, and it is assumed that the rate will decline gradually to 5% by 2012 and beyond. The effect of a one-percentage-point change in the assumed health care cost trend would have changed the amounts of the benefit obligation and the sum of the service cost and interest cost components of postretirement benefit expense for 2007, as follows:

The Company provides life insurance to eligible executives with life insurance protection equal to three times base salary. Upon retirement, the executive is provided with life insurance protection equal to final base salary. There were no expenses related to this plan in 2007 or 2006, and $66,800 in 2005.

The Company has severance agreements with certain key employees that could provide benefits upon termination of up to 3.5 times total annual compensation of such employees.