EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

12 Months Ended

Sep. 28, 2014

Postemployment Benefits [Abstract]

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

We sponsor 401(k) savings plans whereby participating employees may elect to contribute up to 50% of their eligible wages up to the statutory contribution limit. Employees 50 years of age and older may contribute a further 75% of their eligible wages up to the statutory contribution limit. During 2014, employer contributions were $3.6 million.

In certain entities outside the United States, we provide defined-benefit and defined contribution plans, many in accordance with local regulations. We typically deposit employer contributions with third party trustees, insurance trust funds, or government-managed accounts.

We assumed a pension plan in Germany related to our acquisition of Microsemi - CMPG in 2012 that covers employees with over ten years of active service and provides benefits based on length of service and final pensionable earnings. There are no segregated pension fund assets under this plan.  The pension liability is insured and we have pledged the insurance contracts to the pensioners. Accordingly, the contracts are now considered to be a plan asset. As the plan assets are insurance contracts, the Company does not control the investment strategy and thus cannot influence the return on investments. The insurance payments are guaranteed by the insurer and should the insurer default on its obligation, the security fund for insurance companies in Germany would assume the contracts. As of September 28, 2014, the fair value of plan assets was $5.1 million and benefit obligations were $7.6 million. During 2014, we recorded an unrealized actuarial loss on pension benefits of $0.7 million in other comprehensive income due to a reduction in the discount rate assumption used to determine benefit obligations from 3.2% to 2.1%. There are no employer contributions expected in the next twelve months.