Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

Retirement Plans

We have defined employee contribution plans for substantially all of our U.S. employees (401(k) plan) and our Canadian employees (Registered Retirement Savings Plan). We recognized expenses under these plans primarily related to matching contributions of $3.1 million, $3.2 million and $2.8 million in Fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Deferred Compensation

We offer a non-qualified deferred compensation plan to a select group of management and highly compensated individuals. The plan permits the deferral of up to 50% of a participant’s base salary and/or 100% of a participant’s annual incentive bonus. The deferrals are held in a separate trust, an irrevocable rabbi trust (the Rabbi Trust), which has been established to administer the plan. The Rabbi Trust is intended to be used as a source of funds to match respective funding obligations to participants. The assets of the trust are subject to the claims of our creditors in the event that we become insolvent. Consequently, the Rabbi Trust qualifies as a grantor trust for income tax purposes. We make periodic payments into company-owned life insurance policies held in this Rabbi Trust to fund the expected obligations arising under this plan. Changes in the deferred compensation balance are recorded to compensation expense and reflected within the selling, general and administrative line in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The plan is not qualified under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue code. We recorded net compensation expense adjustments of $0.1 million related to this plan in Fiscal 2020. At September 30, 2020, total assets held by the trustee were $7.4 million and recorded in other assets and the liability was $6.6 million and recorded in other long-term liabilities in our Consolidated Balance Sheets. Of the $7.4 million of assets held by the trustee, $7.2 million is invested in company-owned life insurance policies and the remainder in mutual funds.

Certain former executives were provided an executive benefit plan that provides for fixed payments upon normal retirement on or after age 65 and the completion of at least 10 years of continuous employment. The estimated present value of these payments was accrued over the service life of these individuals, and $0.1 million is recorded in deferred compensation related to this executive benefit plan. To assist in funding the deferred compensation liability, we invested in company-owned life insurance policies. The cash surrender value of these policies is presented in other assets and was $3.3 million at September 30, 2020.

Retiree Medical Plan

We have a plan that extends health benefits to retirees that are also available to active employees under our existing health plans. This plan is unfunded. The plan provides coverage for employees with at least 10 years of service who are age 55 or older but less than 65. The retiree is required to pay the COBRA rate less a subsidy provided by us based on years of service at the time of retirement. The unfunded liability is recorded in other long-term liabilities and was $0.9 million as of both September 30, 2020 and 2019. Our net periodic postretirement benefit expenses have been less than $0.1 million for the last three fiscal years. Due to the immateriality of the costs and liabilities of this plan, no further disclosure is being presented.