Employee Benefits

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

(6) Employee Benefits

We have no defined benefit pension plans or post-retirement benefit plans. We offer our employees a 401(k) Plan, where we match 100% of the first 4% that an employee contributes and a discretionary Deferred Bonus Plan for certain key employees. We also offer health benefits to all employees and their families. We have 2,481 participants in our employee health plan. The plan does not cover dental, vision, short-term or long-term disability. These coverages are available on a voluntary basis. We bear some of the risk of our employee health plans. Our health claims are capped at $200,000 per person with a maximum annual exposure of $17.0 million not including premiums.

Our employee benefit expenses for the years ended December 31 are below (in thousands):



		2018		2017
Health benefits, including premiums	$	13,070	$	13,603
401(k) matching		1,811		1,943
Deferred bonus plan		722		677
Total	$	15,603	$	16,223

Of the amounts in the above table, $15.1 million and $15.8 million are recorded in operating costs and expenses for 2018 and 2017, respectively with the remainder in SG&A.

Our mine employees are also covered by workers’ compensation and such costs for 2018 and 2017, were approximately $3.0 and $2.5 million, respectively, and are recorded in operating costs and expenses. Workers’ compensation is a no-fault system by which individuals who sustain work related injuries or occupational diseases are compensated. Benefits and coverage are mandated by each state which includes disability ratings, medical claims, rehabilitation services, and death and survivor benefits. We are partially self-insured for such claims, however our operations are protected from these perils through stop-loss insurance policies. Our maximum annual exposure is limited to $1 million per occurrence with a $4 million aggregate deductible. Based on discussions and representations from our insurance carrier, we believe that our reserve for our workers’ compensation benefits is adequate. We have a safety conscious workforce, and based on our experience modifier, our claims are averaging 23% below that of our peers in underground coal mining in the state of Indiana.