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 2020, the limitation was $285 thousand. The maximum limitation on combined total
before-tax and after-tax employee contributions (other than catch-up contributions) is 25% 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 engineers craft during the preceding calendar year. Qualified earnings include gross earnings paid in the engineers
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 2020 Plan year, in accordance with the provisions of the IRC, no participant could elect more than $26 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 Railways 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 Railways matching contributions exceed the lesser of $57 thousand ($63.5 thousand including catch-up contributions) or
100% of a participants 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 participants account is credited with the participants 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 participants vested account balance.
Participants may direct the investment of their account balances into investment options offered by the Plan. At December 31, 2020, 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.
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