9.	Unit-Based Compensation Arrangements

The Partnership recognizes compensation cost over the respective service period for employee services received in exchange for an award of equity or equity-based compensation based on the grant date fair value of the award. The Partnership measures liability awards under an equity-based payment arrangement based on remeasurement of the award’s fair value at the conclusion of each interim and annual reporting period until the date of settlement, taking into consideration the probability that the performance conditions will be satisfied.

Restricted Unit Plans. In fiscal 2000 and fiscal 2009, the Partnership adopted the Suburban Propane Partners, L.P. 2000 Restricted Unit Plan and 2009 Restricted Unit Plan, as amended (collectively, the “Restricted Unit Plans”), respectively, which authorizes the issuance of Common Units to executives, managers and other employees and members of the Board of Supervisors of the Partnership. At their Tri-Annual Meeting on May 13, 2015, the Partnership’s Common Unitholders approved the authorization of an additional 1,200,000 Common Units of the Partnership to be available for grant pursuant to the 2009 Restricted Unit Plan. The total number of Common Units authorized for issuance under the Restricted Unit Plans was 3,102,122 as of June 27, 2015. In accordance with an August 6, 2013 amendment to the 2009 Restricted Unit Plan, unless otherwise stipulated by the Compensation Committee of the Partnership’s Board of Supervisors on or before the grant date, all restricted unit awards granted after the date of the amendment will vest 33.33% on each of the first three anniversaries of the award grant date. Prior to the August 6, 2013 amendment, unless otherwise stipulated by the Compensation Committee of the Partnership’s Board of Supervisors on or before the grant date, restricted units issued under the Restricted Unit Plans vest over time with 25% of the Common Units vesting at the end of each of the third and fourth anniversaries of the grant date and the remaining 50% of the Common Units vesting at the end of the fifth anniversary of the grant date. The Restricted Unit Plans participants are not eligible to receive quarterly distributions on, or vote, their respective restricted units until vested. Restricted units cannot be sold or transferred prior to vesting. The value of the restricted unit is established by the market price of the Common Unit on the date of grant, net of estimated future distributions during the vesting period. Restricted units are subject to forfeiture in certain circumstances as defined in the Restricted Unit Plans. Compensation expense for the unvested awards is recognized ratably over the vesting periods and is net of estimated forfeitures.

During the nine months ended June 27, 2015, the Partnership awarded 154,403 restricted units under the Restricted Unit Plans at an aggregate grant date fair value of $5,804. The following is a summary of activity for the Restricted Unit Plans for the nine months ended June 27, 2015:

				Weighted Average
				Grant Date Fair
	Units			Value Per Unit
Outstanding September 27, 2014		694,927		$	32.07
Awarded		154,403			37.59
Forfeited		(4,348	)		(32.22	)
Issued		(209,761	)		(36.80	)
Outstanding June 27, 2015		635,221		$	31.85

As of June 27, 2015, unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested restricted units awarded under the Restricted Unit Plans amounted to $6,762. Compensation cost associated with unvested awards is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.1 years. Compensation expense recognized under the Restricted Unit Plans, net of forfeitures, for the three and nine months ended June 27, 2015, was $1,654 and $7,157, respectively, and $2,074 and $5,663 for the three and nine months ended June 28, 2014, respectively.

Long-Term Incentive Plan. The Partnership has a non-qualified, unfunded long-term incentive plan for officers and key employees (the “LTIP”) which provides for payment, in the form of cash, of an award of equity-based compensation at the end of a three-year performance period. For the fiscal 2013 award, the level of compensation earned under the LTIP is based on the market performance of the Partnership’s Common Units on the basis of total return to Unitholders (“TRU”) compared to the TRU of a predetermined peer group consisting solely of other master limited partnerships, approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Supervisors, over the same three-year performance period. On August 6, 2013, the Compensation Committee of the Partnership’s Board of Supervisors adopted the 2014 Long-Term Incentive Plan of the Partnership (“2014 LTIP”) as a replacement for the existing LTIP. As a result, for the fiscal 2015 and 2014 awards, the level of compensation earned under the 2014 LTIP is based on the Partnership’s average distribution coverage ratio over the three-year measurement period. The Partnership’s average distribution coverage ratio is calculated as the Partnership’s average distributable cash flow, as defined in the 2014 LTIP, for each of the three years in the measurement period, subject to certain adjustments as set forth in the 2014 LTIP, divided by the amount of annualized cash distributions to be paid by the Partnership, based on the annualized cash distribution rate at the beginning of the measurement period.

As a result of the quarterly remeasurement of the liability for awards under the LTIP and 2014 LTIP, compensation expense for the three and nine months ended June 27, 2015 was $202 and $1,956, respectively, and $(343) and $1,162 for the three and nine months ended June 28, 2014, respectively. As of June 27, 2015 and September 27, 2014, the Partnership had a liability included within accrued employment and benefit costs (or other liabilities, as applicable) of $5,003 and $3,047, respectively, related to estimated future payments under the LTIP.