Commitments and Contingent Liabilities

Operating Leases

Operating lease commitments are primarily for office space and equipment. Certain office space leases provide for rent adjustments relating to changes in real estate taxes and other operating costs.

Rental expense amounted to approximately $16 million in 2015, 2014 and 2013. The approximate minimum rental commitments under noncancelable leases, net of subleases, as of December 27, 2015 were as follows:



(In thousands)	Amount
2016	$	11,416
2017	9,564
2018	5,550
2019	3,152
2020	2,827
Later years	4,171
Total minimum lease payments	36,680
Less: noncancelable subleases	(1,443		)
Total minimum lease payments, net of noncancelable subleases	$	35,237

Capital Leases

Future minimum lease payments for all capital leases, and the present value of the minimum lease payments as of December 27, 2015, were as follows:



(In thousands)	Amount
2016	$	552
2017	552
2018	552
2019	7,245
2020	—
Later years	—
Total minimum lease payments	8,901
Less: imputed interest	(2,145		)
Present value of net minimum lease payments including current maturities	$	6,756

Restricted Cash

We were required to maintain $28.7 million of restricted cash as of December 27, 2015 and $30.2 million as of December 28, 2014, primarily related to certain collateral requirements for obligations under our workers’ compensation programs.

Newspaper and Mail Deliverers – Publishers’ Pension Fund

In September 2013, the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers - Publishers’ Pension Fund (the “Fund”) assessed a partial withdrawal liability to the Company in the amount of $26 million for the plan years ending May 31, 2012 and 2013, an amount that was increased to approximately $34 million in December 2014, when the Fund issued a revised partial withdrawal liability assessment for the plan year ending May 31, 2013. The Fund claims that when City & Suburban, a retail and newsstand distribution subsidiary of the Company and the largest contributor to the Fund, ceased operations in 2009, it triggered a decline of more than 70% in contribution base units in each of these two plan years. The Company disagrees with both the Fund’s determination that a partial withdrawal occurred and the methodology by which it calculated the withdrawal liability, and the matter is currently being arbitrated. We do not believe that a loss is probable on this matter and have not recorded a loss contingency for the period ended December 27, 2015. However, as required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, we have been making the quarterly payments to the Fund set forth in the demand letters. As of December 27, 2015, we made total payments of $11.6 million since the receipt of the initial demand letter, including $7.1 million in 2015.

Other

We are involved in various legal actions incidental to our business that are now pending against us. These actions are generally for amounts greatly in excess of the payments, if any, that may be required to be made. Although the Company cannot predict the outcome of these matters, it is possible that an unfavorable outcome in one or more matters could be material to the Company’s consolidated results of operations or cash flows for an individual reporting period. However, based on currently available information, management does not believe that the ultimate resolution of these matters, individually or in the aggregate, is likely to have a material effect on the Company’s financial position.