BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY NON-SALARIED
EMPLOYEES 401(k) RETIREMENT PLAN
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
Contributions
Compensation, as generally defined under the Plan, is the total of salary and other amounts received for personal services rendered as an eligible employee, excluding disciplinary or judicially ordered back pay awards, severance benefits, bonuses and certain other payments set forth in the Plan. The Plan provides that the annual compensation of each employee taken into account under the Plan for any year may not exceed a limitation pursuant to requirements of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). During 2022, the limitation was $305 thousand. The maximum limitation on combined total before-tax and after-tax employee contributions (other than catch-up contributions) is 50% of compensation or such other maximum amount provided in an applicable collective bargaining agreement. All employee-elected contributions are made by means of regular payroll deductions.
BNSF Railway matches 25% of the first 4% of employee-elected before-tax contributions and/or Roth contributions for each pay period for employees whose collective bargaining agreement provides for a BNSF Railway match. Matching contributions are made in cash, as soon as practicable after the end of each pay period.
In addition, certain participants may elect to have BNSF Railway make sick leave deposits into the Plan in lieu of compensation for unused sick time in accordance with an agreement between BNSF Railway and the Transportation-Communications International Union.
The BLET contribution provides a single vested contribution equal to 25% of 1% of the qualified earnings for each employee in the engineer’s craft during the preceding calendar year. Qualified earnings include gross earnings paid in the engineer’s craft and any profit-sharing payment made to the eligible employee, including any deferrals made under this Plan, and excluding certain retroactive payments.
During the 2022 Plan year, in accordance with the provisions of the IRC, no participant could elect more than $27 thousand in before-tax and/or Roth after-tax contributions, which included a $6.5 thousand limit for catch-up contributions for participants age 50 or older before the close of the Plan year. This limitation does not include BNSF Railway’s matching contributions. In addition, the Plan provides that annual contributions for highly-compensated employees (as defined by the IRC) may be limited based on the average rate of contributions for lower-compensated employees. In no event may the total of employee-elected pre-tax contributions, employee after-tax contributions, and BNSF Railway’s matching contributions exceed the lesser of $61 thousand ($67.5 thousand including catch-up contributions) or 100% of a participant’s compensation, as defined in IRC Section 415(c)(3), for any participant in a calendar year, subject to certain cost-of-living adjustments. Contributions with respect to any participant may be further reduced to the extent necessary to prevent disqualification of the Plan under Section 415 of the IRC, which imposes additional limitations on contributions and benefits with regard to employees who participate in other qualified plans.
Participant Accounts
Each participant’s account is credited with the participant’s elective contributions, BNSF Railway matching contributions, interest, dividends and gains and losses attributable to such contributions. The benefit to which a participant is entitled is limited to the participant’s vested account balance.
Participants may direct the investment of their account balances into investment options offered by the Plan. At December 31, 2022, the Plan offers a company stock fund (the Company Stock Fund) which consists of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (Berkshire) Class B common stock (BNSF is a wholly-owned, indirect subsidiary of Berkshire), five mutual funds, seventeen common / collective trusts and a stable value fund as investment options for participants, all of which are held by the Master Trust.
Participants may allocate both elective and employer contributions to any or all of the investment options in multiples of 1%. Participants may reallocate amounts from one investment option to another on a daily basis within certain guidelines as described in the Plan document and the relevant investment prospectus.
No investment election or interfund transfer may result in the investment of more than 20% of the value of a participant’s account in the Company Stock Fund. Investment election funds that exceed the 20% limit are invested in a target retirement trust designed for investors planning to retire on a date closest to the participant’s 65th birthday.
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