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EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 30, 2023
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
Pension Plans
The Charles River Pension Plan (U.K. Pension Plan) is a defined contribution and defined benefit pension plan covering certain U.K. employees. Benefits are based on participants’ final pensionable salary and years of service. Participants’ rights vest immediately. The plan was previously amended to exclude new participants from joining the defined benefit section of the plan and a defined contribution section was established for new entrants. Contributions under the defined contribution plan are determined as a percentage of gross salary. Additionally, the U.K. Pension Plan was amended such that the members of the defined benefit section of the plan ceased to accrue additional benefits; however, their benefits continue to be adjusted for changes in their final pensionable salary or a specified inflation index, as applicable. During fiscal 2023, the Company made no contributions to the U.K. Pension Plan. As of fiscal 2023 year-end, this plan was in a funded status of $35.7 million.
During 2022, the Company terminated a non-contributory defined benefit plan that covered certain employees in Canada (Canada Pension Plan). Upon settlement of the pension liability in fiscal year 2022, the Company recognized a $1.0 million loss related to the net periodic benefit cost recorded in Other expense in the consolidated statements of income.
In addition, the Company has several defined benefit plans in certain other countries in which it maintains an operating presence, including Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Mauritius, Netherlands, and Japan.
The net periodic benefit cost (income) associated with these plans for fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021 totaled $2.8 million, $0.1 million and $0.5 million, respectively.
Charles River Laboratories Deferred Compensation Plan and Executive Supplemental Life Insurance Retirement Plan
The Company maintains a non-qualified deferred compensation plan, known as the Charles River Laboratories Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP), which allows a select group of eligible employees to defer a portion of their compensation. At the present time, no contributions are credited to the DCP, except as set forth below. Participants must specify the distribution date for deferred amounts at the time of deferral, in accordance with applicable IRS regulations. Generally, amounts may be paid in lump sum or installments upon retirement or termination of employment, or later if the employee terminates employment after age 55 and before age 65. Amounts may also be distributed during employment, subject to a minimum deferral requirement of three years.
The Company provides certain active employees an annual contribution into their DCP account of 10% of the employee’s base salary plus the lesser of their target annual bonus or actual annual bonus.
In addition to the DCP, certain officers and key employees also participate, or in the past participated, in the Company’s Executive Supplemental Life Insurance Retirement Plan (ESLIRP), which is a non-funded, non-qualified arrangement. Annual benefits under this plan will equal a percentage of the highest five consecutive years of compensation, offset by amounts payable under the U.S. Pension Plan and Social Security. In connection with the establishment of the DCP, certain active ESLIRP participants, who agreed to convert their accrued ESLIRP benefit to a comparable deferred compensation benefit, discontinued their direct participation in the ESLIRP. Instead, the present values of the accrued benefits of ESLIRP participants were credited to their DCP accounts, and future accruals are converted to present values and credited to their DCP accounts annually.
The net periodic benefit cost associated with these plans for fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021 totaled $2.8 million, $4.3 million and $4.3 million, respectively.
The Company has invested in several corporate-owned key-person life insurance policies with the intention of using these investments to fund the ESLIRP and the DCP. Participants have no interest in any such investments. As of December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the cash surrender value of these life insurance policies were $48.4 million and $41.9 million, respectively.
The following table provides a reconciliation of benefit obligations and plan assets of the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans:
 December 30, 2023December 31, 2022
(in thousands)
Change in projected benefit obligations:  
Benefit obligation at beginning of year$205,551 $372,599 
Service cost2,474 3,213 
Interest cost9,941 6,140 
Benefit payments(6,239)(6,469)
Curtailment— (2,477)
Settlements— (11,939)
Transfer in due to acquisition1,106 — 
Actuarial (gain) loss3,600 (134,923)
Effect of foreign exchange8,442 (20,593)
Benefit obligation at end of year$224,875 $205,551 
Change in fair value of plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year$192,540 $335,631 
Actual return on plan assets5,578 (105,749)
Employer contributions1,744 4,558 
Settlements— (11,939)
Transfer in due to acquisition181 — 
Benefit payments(6,239)(6,469)
Effect of foreign exchange9,853 (23,492)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year$203,657 $192,540 
Net balance sheet liability$21,218 $13,011 
Amounts recognized in balance sheet:
Noncurrent assets$36,957 $39,185 
Current liabilities1,164 1,151 
Noncurrent liabilities57,011 51,045 
Actuarial gains and losses are driven by changes in economic assumptions, principally discount rates. Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss related to the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans are as follows:
Fiscal Year
 20232022
(in thousands)
Net actuarial loss$58,855 $54,509 
Net prior service cost (credit)(121)(585)
Net amount recognized$58,734 $53,924 
The accumulated benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets for the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets are as follows:
 December 30, 2023December 31, 2022
(in thousands)
Accumulated benefit obligation$54,310 $48,414 
Fair value of plan assets2,824 2,258 
The projected benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets for the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets are as follows:
 December 30, 2023December 31, 2022
(in thousands)
Projected benefit obligation$61,671 $55,304 
Fair value of plan assets3,496 3,108 
Components of total benefit cost for the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans are as follows:
Fiscal Year
 202320222021
(in thousands)
Service cost$2,474 $3,213 $3,455 
Interest cost9,941 6,140 5,492 
Expected return on plan assets(7,556)(7,322)(8,058)
Amortization of prior service credit(464)(506)(531)
Amortization of net loss1,231 2,869 4,528 
Net periodic benefit cost5,626 4,394 4,886 
Settlement— 981 (2,320)
Total benefit cost$5,626 $5,375 $2,566 
Assumptions
Weighted-average assumptions used to determine projected benefit obligations are as follows:
 December 30, 2023December 31, 2022
Discount rate4.7 %4.8 %
Rate of compensation increase3.2 %3.2 %
The discount rate reflects the rate the Company would have to pay to purchase high-quality investments that would provide cash sufficient to settle its current pension obligations.
Weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost are as follows:
 December 30, 2023December 31, 2022December 25, 2021
Discount rate4.8 %1.8 %1.5 %
Expected long-term return on plan assets3.9 %2.4 %2.5 %
Rate of compensation increase3.2 %3.7 %3.0 %
In fiscal years 2023 and 2022, new mortality improvement scales were issued in the U.S. and the United Kingdom (U.K.) reflecting a decline in longevity projection from previous releases the Company adopted, which decreased the Company’s benefit obligations by $3.5 million and $0.2 million as of December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.
Plan Assets
The Company invests its pension assets with the objective of achieving a total long-term rate of return sufficient to fund future pension obligations and to minimize future pension contributions. The Company is willing to tolerate a commensurate level of risk to achieve this objective. The Company controls its risk by maintaining a diversified portfolio of asset classes. Plan assets did not include any of the Company’s common stock as of December 30, 2023 or December 31, 2022. The weighted-average target asset allocations are 7.0% to equity securities, 84.1% to fixed income securities and 8.9% to other securities.
The fair value of the Company’s pension plan assets by asset category are as follows:
 December 30, 2023December 31, 2022
Level 1 Level 2Level 3Total Level 1 Level 2Level 3Total
(in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents$446 $798 $— $1,244 $362 $5,153 $— $5,515 
Equity securities (1)
— 10,701 — 10,701 — 9,308 — 9,308 
Debt securities (2)
— 144,822 — 144,822 — 123,638 — 123,638 
Mutual funds (3)
9,207 10,368 — 19,575 8,380 9,372 — 17,752 
Other (4)
— 27,254 61 27,315 — 36,268 59 36,327 
Total$9,653 $193,943 $61 $203,657 $8,742 $183,739 $59 $192,540 
(1) This category comprises equity investments and securities held by non-U.S. pension plans valued at the quoted closing price and translated into U.S. dollars using a foreign currency exchange rate at year end.
(2) This category comprises debt investments and securities held by non-U.S. pension plans valued at the quoted closing price and translated into U.S. dollars using a foreign currency exchange rate at year end. Holdings primarily include investment-grade corporate bonds and treasuries at various durations.
(3) This category comprises mutual funds valued at the net asset value of shares held by non-U.S. pension plans at year end and translated into U.S. dollars using a foreign currency exchange rate at year end.
(4) This category mainly comprises fixed income securities tied to various U.K. government bond yields held by non-US pension plans valued at the net asset value of shares held at year-end and translated into U.S. dollars using a foreign currency exchange rate at year end.
The activity within the Level 3 pension plan assets was not significant during the periods presented.
During fiscal year 2023, the Company did not contribute to the pension plans and expects to make $2.0 million in contributions in fiscal year 2024. During fiscal year 2023, the Company paid $1.7 million directly to certain participants outside of plan assets.
Expected benefit payments are estimated using the same assumptions used in determining the Company’s benefit obligation as of 2023. Benefit payments will depend on future employment and compensation levels, among other factors, and changes in any of these factors could significantly affect these estimated future benefit payments. Estimated future benefit payments during the next five years and in the aggregate for fiscal years 2029 through 2033, are as follows.
Fiscal YearPension Plans
(in thousands)
2024$6,558 
20256,703 
202646,898 
20277,633 
20288,843 
2029-203355,416 
Charles River Laboratories Employee Savings Plan
The Charles River Laboratories Employee Savings Plan is a defined contribution plan in the form of a qualified 401(k) plan in which substantially all U.S. employees are eligible to participate upon employment. The plan contains a provision whereby the Company matches a percentage of employee contributions. During fiscal years 2023, 2022 and 2021, the costs associated with this defined contribution plan totaled $31.6 million, $28.8 million and $24.0 million, respectively.