EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2022

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

10.    EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN

The following represents the net periodic benefit cost and related components of the Company’s multiple employer Retirement Income Plan, a trusteed defined benefit pension plan:

	Three months ended March 31,
(in thousands)	2022		2021
Interest cost	$	243	$	247
Expected return on plan assets		-		(377)
Amortization of net losses		253		202
Net periodic benefit cost	$	496	$	72

During the fourth quarter of 2021, the Company initiated actions to terminate the defined benefit pension plan, which is expected to be completed in early 2023. The Company currently expects to make a final cash contribution of approximately $6 million to $7 million as part of the termination. As of the plan termination date, the Company will recognize a pre-tax, non-cash settlement charge representing the unamortized net loss in the plan which was approximately $23.2 million as of March 31, 2022. The final amount is subject to change based on the actual return on plan assets and the periodic actuarial updates of the net losses

in the plan. For the year ending December 31, 2022, the Company has utilized an expected return on plan assets of zero percent based on the current short-term rates and investment horizon as a result of the expected plan termination.

The Company did not make a cash contribution to this plan during the three months ended March 31, 2022 or March 31, 2021.

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 $30.2 million as of March 31, 2022 and $31.7 million as of December 31, 2021. Trading losses related to the SERP assets totaled approximately $1.5 million during the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to trading gains of approximately $471 thousand during the three months ended March 31, 2021. 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 $26.6 million as of March 31, 2022 and $29.7 million as of December 31, 2021. 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 losses of approximately $1.4 million during the three months ended March 31, 2022, compared to unrealized gains of approximately $586 thousand during the three months ended March 31, 2021.