Associate Benefit Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Associate Benefit Plans

9. ASSOCIATE BENEFIT PLANS

Postretirement Benefits

We share certain costs of providing health and life insurance benefits to eligible retired Associates and their eligible dependents. Previously, all Associates were eligible for these benefits if they reached normal retirement age while working for us. Effective March 31, 2014, we changed the eligibility of this plan to include only those Associates who have achieved ten years of service with us as of March 31, 2014. As of December 31, 2014, we began to use the mortality table issued by the Office of the Actuary of the United States Bureau of Census in October 2014 in our calculation.

We account for our obligations under the provisions of FASB ASC 715, Compensation - Retirement Benefits (ASC 715). ASC 715 requires that the costs of these benefits be recognized over an Associate’s active working career. Amortization of unrecognized net gains or losses resulting from experience different from that assumed and from changes in assumptions is included as a component of net periodic benefit cost over the remaining service period of active employees to the extent that such gains and losses exceed 10% of the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation, as of the beginning of the year.

The following are disclosures of the net periodic benefit cost components of postretirement benefits measured at January 1, 2015 and 2014.

	Three months ended September 30,						Nine months ended September 30,
(In Thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014
Service cost	$	15		$	49		$	44		$	147
Interest cost		22			48			66			146
Prior service cost amortization		(19	)		(14	)		(57	)		(44	)
Net (gain) loss recognition		(5	)		22			(15	)		66
Net periodic benefit cost	$	13		$	105		$	38		$	315