RETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 28, 2019

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans [Line Items]

Funded Status of Pension Benefit Plans and Postretirement Benefit Plan

As of December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, the status of the Company’s pension benefit plans and other postretirement benefit plan was as follows:

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	91,533,200		$	98,522,201		$	2,096,761		$	2,423,410
Change in discount rate		12,313,831			(8,319,874	)		239,138			(217,539	)
Service cost		1,055,410			1,319,841			33,287			37,024
Interest cost		3,516,318			3,107,164			56,755			77,161
Actuarial (gain)/loss		(1,508,935	)		531,799			77,813			(89,664	)
Significant Event		--			--			(902,719	)		--
Benefits paid		(3,918,781	)		(3,627,931	)		(35,016	)		(133,631	)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	102,991,043		$	91,533,200		$	1,566,019		$	2,096,761

	2019			2018			2019			2018
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	66,170,875		$	72,098,772		$	1,448,126		$	1,391,239
Actual return on plan assets		11,803,359			(4,827,641	)		13,466			56,887
Employer contributions		304,105			2,527,675			35,016			133,631
Significant Event		--			--			(902,719	)		--
Benefits paid		(3,918,781	)		(3,627,931	)		(35,016	)		(133,631	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	74,359,558		$	66,170,875		$	558,873		$	1,448,126

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
Funded Status	2019			2018			2019			2018
Net amount recognized in the balance sheet	$	(28,631,485	)	$	(25,362,325	)	$	(1,007,146	)	$	(648,635	)

Amounts Recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income consist of:

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
	2019			2018			2019		2018
Net (loss)/gain	$	(36,315,245	)	$	(33,714,584	)	$	499,701	$	1,332,634
Prior service (cost) credit		(265,012	)		(364,392	)		8,253		13,325
	$	(36,580,257	)	$	(34,078,976	)	$	507,954	$	1,345,959

Change in the Components of Accumulated Other Comprehensive income

Change in the components of accumulated other comprehensive income consist of:

	Pension Benefit						Other Postretirement Benefit
	2019			2018			2019			2018
Balance at beginning of period	$	(34,078,976	)	$	(33,059,756	)	$	1,345,959		$	1,108,182
Change due to availability of final actual assets and census data		---			---			--			--
Charged to net periodic benefit cost
Prior service cost		99,380			114,822			(5,072	)		(5,072	)
Net loss (gain)		1,162,196			1,110,111			(47,272	)		(65,591	)
Liability (gains)/losses
Discount rate		(12,313,831	)		8,319,874			(239,138	)		217,539
Asset (gains)/losses deferred		7,724,649			(9,531,647	)		(14,567	)		1,237
Significant Event		--			--			(454,143	)		--
Additional recognition due to plan amendment		--			14,928			—			—
Other		826,325			(1,047,308	)		(77,813	)		89,664
Balance at end of period	$	(36,580,257	)	$	(34,078,976	)	$	507,954		$	1,345,959

Assumptions Used to Determine Projected Benefit Obligations for Benefit Plans

Assumptions used to determine the projected benefit obligations for the Company’s pension benefit plans and other postretirement benefit plan for the fiscal year indicated were as follows:

		2019	2018
Discount rate
-	Pension plans	3.18% - 3.23%	4.20% - 4.22%
-	Supplemental pension plans	2.61%	3.81%
-	Other postretirement plan	3.35%	4.26%

Projected Benefit Obligation and Accumulated Benefit Obligation in Excess of Plan Assets

Information for the under-funded pension plans with a projected benefit obligation and an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets:

	2019			2018
Number of plans		5			5
Projected benefit obligation	$	102,991,043		$	91,533,200
Accumulated benefit obligation		102,991,043			91,533,200
Fair value of plan assets		74,359,558			66,170,875
Net amount recognized in accrued benefit liability		(28,631,485	)		(25,362,325	)

Defined Contribution Plan

The Company made contributions to the plan as follows:

	2019		2018
Regular matching contributions	$	540,693	$	551,046
Transitional credit contributions		305,226		349,062
Non-discretionary contributions		638,745		578,373
Total contributions made for the period	$	1,484,664	$	1,478,481

Pension Benefit [Member]

Defined Benefit Plans and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans [Line Items]

Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost

Components of the net periodic benefit cost of the Company’s pension benefit plans for the fiscal year indicated were as follows:

	2019			2018
Service cost	$	1,055,410		$	1,319,841
Interest cost		3,510,618			3,107,164
Expected return on plan assets		(4,761,320	)		(5,219,515	)
Amortization of prior service cost		99,380			114,822
Amortization of the net loss		1,162,196			1,110,111
Net periodic benefit cost	$	1,071,984		$	432,423

Assumptions Used to Determine Net Periodic Benefit Cost for Benefit Plans

Assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the Company’s pension benefit plans for the fiscal year indicated were as follows:

	2019	2018
Discount rate
- Pension plans	4.20% - 4.22%	3.54% - 3.57%
- Supplemental pension plans	3.81%	3.10%
Expected return on plan assets	7.5%	7.5%
Rate of compensation increase	0%	0%

Fair Values of Plans Assets Utilizing Fair Value Hierarchy

The fair values of the company’s pension plans assets at December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018, utilizing the fair value hierarchy discussed in Note 2, follow:

	December 28,2019
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and Equivalents:
Common/collective trust funds	$	—	$	334,138	$	—	$	334,138
Equities:
The Eastern Company Common Stock		6,625,560				—		6,625,560
Common/collective trust funds
Russell Multi Asset Core Plus Fund (a)		—		33,413,819		—		33,413,819
Fixed Income:
Common/collective trust funds
Target Duration LDI Fixed Income Funds (b)
• Russell 8 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		12,796,482		—		12,796,482
• Russell 14 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		11,387,626		—		11,387,626
STRIPS Fixed Income Funds (c)
• Russell 15 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		3,050,389		—		3,050,389
• Russell 10 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		4,616,924		—		4,616,924
• Russell 28 to 29 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		2,134,620		—		2,134,620
Total	$	6,625,560	$	67,733,998	$	—	$	74,359,558

	December 29, 2018
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
Cash and Equivalents:
Common/collective trust funds	$	—	$	306,882	$	—	$	306,882
Equities:
The Eastern Company Common Stock		5,247,495				—		5,247,495
Common/collective trust funds
Russell Multi Asset Core Plus Fund (a)		—		30,611,519		—		30,611,519
Fixed Income:
Common/collective trust funds
Target Duration LDI Fixed Income Funds (b)
• Russell 8 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		5,735,993		—		5,735,993
• Russell 14 Year LDI Fixed Income Fund		—		17,044,596		—		17,044,596
STRIPS Fixed Income Funds (c)
• Russell 15 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		1,811,436		—		1,811,436
• Russell 10 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		3,408,879		—		3,408,879
• Russell 28 to 29 Year STRIPS Fixed Income Fund		—		2,004,075		—		2,004,075
Total	$	5,247,495	$	60,923,380	$	—	$	66,170,875

Equity common funds primarily hold publicly traded common stock of both U.S and international companies selected for purposes of total return and to maintain equity exposure consistent with policy allocations. The Level 1 investment is made up of shares of The Eastern Company Common Stock and is valued at market price. Level 2 investments include commingled funds valued at unit values provided by the investment managers, which are based on the fair value of the underlying publicly traded securities.

(a)

The investment objective of the RITC (formerly Russell) Multi-Asset Core Plus Fund seeks to provide long-term growth of capital over a market cycle by offering a diversified portfolio of funds and separate accounts investing in global stock, return seeking fixed income, commodities, global real estate and opportunistic investments. They hold a dynamic mix of underlying Russell Investments funds and/or separate accounts. Russell Investments is a strong proponent of disciplined strategic asset allocation and rebalancing strategies, and believes that unstable movements in the market have the potential to create opportunities. By identifying short-term mispricing, and making small tactical adjustments to the Multi-Asset Core Plus Fund, they believe there is potential to enhance returns while continuing to manage risks.

(b)

The Target Duration LDI Fixed Income Funds seek to outperform their respective Barclays-Russell LDI Indexes over a full market cycle. These Funds invest primarily in investment grade corporate bonds that closely match those found in discount curves used to value U.S. pension liabilities. They seek to provide additional incremental return through modest interest rate timing, security selection and tactical use of non-credit sectors. Generally, for use in combination with other bond funds to gain additional credit exposure, with the goal of reducing the mismatch between a plan’s assets and liabilities.

(c)

The STRIPS (Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities) Funds seek to provide duration and Treasury exposure by investing in an optimized subset of the STRIPS universe with a similar duration profile as the Barclays U.S. Treasury STRIPS 10-11 year, 16-16 year or 28-29 year Index. These passively managed funds are generally used with other bond funds to add additional duration to the asset portfolio. This will help reduce the mismatch between a plan’s assets and liabilities.