Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Jan. 02, 2018

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

Defined Contribution Plan

In October 2003, the Company adopted a defined contribution plan, The Noodles & Company 401(k) Plan (the “401(k) Plan”). Company employees aged 21 or older, are eligible to participate in the 401(k) Plan beginning on the first day of the calendar month following 30 days of employment. Under the provisions of the plan, the Company may, at its discretion, make contributions to the 401(k) Plan. Participants are 100% vested in their own contributions. The Company made no contributions during 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Deferred Compensation Plan

The Company’s deferred compensation plan, under which compensation deferrals began in 2013, is a non-qualified deferred compensation plan which allows highly compensated employees to defer a portion of their base salary and variable compensation each plan year. To offset its obligation, the Company purchases Company-owned whole-life insurance contracts on certain team members. As of January 2, 2018 and January 3, 2017, $1.9 million and $1.6 million, respectively, were included in other assets, net, which represents the cash surrender value of the associated life insurance policies, and $1.3 million and $1.5 million, respectively, were included in other long-term liabilities, which represents the carrying value of the liability for deferred compensation.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

In 2013, the Company adopted an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”) under which eligible team members may voluntarily contribute up to 15% of their salaries, subject to limitations, to purchase common stock at a price equal to 85% of the fair market value of a share of the Company’s common stock on the first day of each offering period or 85% of the fair market value of a share of the Company’s common stock on the last day of each offering period, whichever amount is less. In general, all non-highly compensated employees who have been employed by the Company for at least 30 days prior to the offering period and who are regularly scheduled to work more than 20 hours per week and for more than five months in any calendar year, are eligible to participate in the ESPP which operates in-line with the Company’s fiscal quarters. A total of 750,000 shares of common stock are available for issuance under the ESPP. The Company has issued a total of 117,381 shares under this plan, of which 37,069 shares were issued during 2017. A total of 632,619 shares remain available for future issuance. For 2017, in accordance with the guidance for accounting for stock compensation, the Company estimated the fair value of the stock purchase plan using the Black-Scholes multiple-option pricing model. The average assumptions used in the model included a 1.07% risk-free interest rate; 0.25 years year expected life; expected volatility of 38.3%; and a zero percent dividend yield. The weighted average fair value per share at grant date was $0.77. In 2017, the Company recognized $29,000 of compensation expense related to the ESPP.