EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2021

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

11.    EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

The following represents the net periodic benefit cost and related components of the Company’s multiple employers Retirement Income Plan:

	Three months ended September 30,				Nine months ended September 30,
(in thousands)	2021		2020		2021		2020
Interest cost	$	247	$	411	$	741	$	1,234
Expected return on plan assets		(378)		(395)		(1,132)		(1,186)
Amortization of net losses		202		246		606		739
Net periodic benefit cost	$	71	$	262	$	215	$	787

The Company did not make a contribution to this plan during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 or September 30, 2020.

In October 2020, the Company amended the Retirement Income Plan to add a limited lump-sum payment window for vested terminated participants who had terminated employment before July 1, 2020 and for active employees who reached age 59 ½ by December 1, 2020, with a vested balance. The participants could elect to receive their vested balance immediately as a lump-sum or by initiating a monthly annuity payment. The lump-sum payment window offering ended during the fourth quarter of 2020 and plan assets were used to fund participant elections. The resulting non-cash settlement charges represent the accelerated recognition of actuarial losses reflected in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) (AOCI). A settlement loss of $4.7 million associated with the acceptance of these lump-sum payments was included as part of impairment and other charges during the fourth quarter of 2020.

The Company permits selected highly compensated employees to defer a portion of their compensation into the non-qualified Supplemental Retirement Plan (“SERP”). The Company maintains certain securities primarily in mutual funds and company-owned life insurance (“COLI”) policies as a funding source to satisfy the obligation of the SERP that have been classified as trading, and are stated at fair value totaling $31.6 million as of September 30, 2021 and $32.0 million as of December 31, 2020. Trading gains related to the SERP assets totaled approximately $407 thousand during the three months ended September 30, 2021, compared to trading gains of approximately $1.1 million during the three months ended September 30, 2020. Trading gains related to the SERP assets totaled approximately $2.5 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, compared to trading gains of approximately $178 thousand during the nine months ended September 30, 2020. The SERP assets are reported in non-current other assets on the consolidated balance sheets and changes in the fair value of these assets are reported in the consolidated statements of operations as compensation cost in selling, general and administrative expenses.

The SERP liabilities includes participant deferrals net of distributions and are stated at fair value of approximately $29.3 million as of September 30, 2021 and $29.7 million as of December 31, 2020. The SERP liabilities are reported on the consolidated balance sheets in long-term pension liabilities and any change in the fair value is recorded as compensation cost within selling, general and administrative expenses in the consolidated statements of operations. Changes in the fair value of the SERP liabilities represented unrealized gains of approximately $502 thousand during the three months ended September 30, 2021, compared to unrealized gains of approximately $1.2 million during the three months ended September 30, 2020. Changes in the fair value of the SERP liabilities represented unrealized gains of approximately $2.8 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, compared to unrealized gains of approximately $486 thousand during the nine months ended September 30, 2020.