RETIREMENT PLANS

12 Months Ended

Apr. 01, 2023

Defined Contribution Plans

The Company has a Savings Plus Plan (the “401k Plan”) that allows its U.S. employees to accumulate savings on a pre-tax basis. In addition, matching contributions are made to the 401k Plan based upon pre-established rates. The Company’s matching contributions amounted to approximately $6.9 million, $6.3 million and $4.9 million in fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Upon the Company’s Board of Directors’ approval, additional discretionary contributions can also be made. No discretionary contributions were made for the 401k Plan in fiscal 2023, 2022, or 2021.

Some of the Company’s subsidiaries also have defined contribution plans, to which both the employee and the employer make contributions. The employer contributions to these plans totaled $0.6 million, $0.6 million and $0.7 million in fiscal 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

Defined Benefit Plans

ASC Topic 715, Compensation — Retirement Benefits, requires an employer to: (a) recognize in its statement of financial position an asset for a plan’s over-funded status or a liability for a plan’s under-funded status; (b) measure a plan’s assets and its obligations that determine its funded status as of the end of the employer’s fiscal year (with limited exceptions); and (c) recognize changes in the funded status of a defined benefit post retirement plan in the year in which the changes occur. Accordingly, the Company is required to report changes in its funded status in comprehensive loss on its consolidated statement of stockholders’ equity and consolidated statement of comprehensive income.

Benefits under these plans are generally based on either career average or final average salaries and creditable years of service as defined in the plans. The annual cost for these plans is determined using the projected unit credit actuarial cost method that includes actuarial assumptions and estimates that are subject to change.

Some of the Company’s foreign subsidiaries have defined benefit pension plans covering substantially all full time employees at those subsidiaries. Net periodic benefit costs for the plans in the aggregate include the following components:


(In thousands)	2023		2022		2021
Service cost	$	1,453	$	1,714	$	1,861
Interest cost on benefit obligation	409		242		279
Expected return on plan assets	(180)		(88)		(66)
Actuarial loss	19		189		119
Amortization of unrecognized prior service cost	(180)		(175)		(123)
Plan settlements	(330)		(184)		—
Totals	$	1,191	$	1,698	$	2,070

The activity under those defined benefit plans are as follows:


(In thousands)	April 1, 2023		April 2, 2022
Change in Benefit Obligation:
Benefit Obligation, beginning of year	$	(30,410)	$	(31,891)
Service cost	(1,453)		(1,714)
Interest cost	(409)		(242)
Benefits paid	748		928
Actuarial gain	3,675		3,208
Employee and plan participants contribution	(1,599)		(2,093)
Plan settlements	1,775		1,367
Foreign currency changes	2,208		27
Benefit obligation, end of year	$	(25,465)	$	(30,410)
Change in Plan Assets:
Fair value of plan assets, beginning of year	$	17,447	$	16,142
Company contributions	1,436		1,432
Benefits paid	(593)		(719)
Gain (loss) on plan assets	105		(108)
Employee and plan participants contribution	1,670		2,077
Plan settlements	(1,647)		(1,356)
Foreign currency changes	45		(21)
Fair value of plan assets, end of year	$	18,463	$	17,447
Funded Status*	$	(7,002)	$	(12,963)
Unrecognized net actuarial gain	(3,757)		(236)
Unrecognized prior service cost	(1,133)		(1,099)
Net amount recognized	$	(11,892)	$	(14,298)
* Substantially all of the unfunded status is non-current

One of the benefit plans is funded by benefit payments made by the Company through the purchase of reinsurance contracts that do not qualify as plan assets under ASC Topic 715. Accordingly, that plan has no assets included in the information presented above. The total asset value associated with the reinsurance contracts was $7.1 million and $6.8 million at April 1, 2023 and April 2, 2022, respectively. The total liability for this plan, which is included in the table above, was $7.5 million and $9.6 million as of April 1, 2023 and April 2, 2022, respectively.

The accumulated benefit obligation for all plans was $25.2 million and $28.4 million for fiscal 2023 and 2022, respectively. There were no plans where the plan assets were greater than the accumulated benefit obligation as of April 1, 2023 and April 2, 2022.

The components of the change recorded in the Company’s accumulated other comprehensive loss related to its defined benefit plans, net of tax, are as follows (in thousands):


Balance as of March 28, 2020	$	(209)

Actuarial loss	(221)
Prior service cost	(130)

Balance as of April 3, 2021	$	(560)
Actuarial gain	2,532
Prior service cost	(194)
Plan settlements	(159)
Balance as of April 2, 2022	$	1,619
Actuarial gain	2,695
Prior service credit	46
Plan settlements	(285)
Balance as of April 1, 2023	$	4,075

The Company expects to amortize $0.4 million from accumulated other comprehensive loss to net periodic benefit cost during fiscal 2024.

The weighted average rates used to determine the net periodic benefit costs and projected benefit obligations were as follows:


	2023		2022		2021
Discount rate	2.43	%	1.38	%	0.58	%
Rate of increased salary levels	1.94	%	1.81	%	1.64	%
Expected long-term rate of return on assets	0.87	%	0.69	%	0.42	%

Assumptions for expected long-term rate of return on plan assets are based upon actual historical returns, future expectations of returns for each asset class and the effect of periodic target asset allocation rebalancing. The results are adjusted for the payment of reasonable expenses of the plan from plan assets.

The Company has no other material obligation for post-retirement or post-employment benefits.

The Company’s investment policy for pension plans is to balance risk and return through a diversified portfolio to reduce interest rate and market risk. Maturities are managed so that sufficient liquidity exists to meet immediate and future benefit payment requirements.

ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, provides guidance for reporting and measuring the plan assets of the Company’s defined benefit pension plan at fair value as of April 1, 2023. Using the same three-level valuation hierarchy for disclosure of fair value measurements as described in Note 14, Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements, all of the assets of the Company’s plan are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy because the plan assets are primarily insurance contracts.

Expected benefit payments for both plans are estimated using the same assumptions used in determining the Company’s benefit obligation at April 1, 2023. Benefit payments will depend on future employment and compensation levels, average years employed and average life spans, among other factors, and changes in any of these factors could significantly affect these estimated future benefit payments. Estimated future benefit payments are as follows:


(In thousands)
Fiscal 2024	$	1,453
Fiscal 2025	1,352
Fiscal 2026	1,474
Fiscal 2027	1,733
Fiscal 2028	1,809
Fiscal 2029-2033	11,654

The Company’s contributions for fiscal 2024 are expected to be consistent with the current year.