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Pension Benefits and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Defined Benefit Plan [Abstract]  
Pension Benefit and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
Note 12 – Pension Benefits and Other Postretirement Benefit Plans
As of March 31, 2019, we had two qualified noncontributory defined benefit pension plans: 1) the Union Plan and 2) the Rogers Corporation Defined Benefit Pension Plan for (i) all other U.S. employees hired before December 31, 2007 who are salaried employees or non-union hourly employees and (ii) employees of the acquired Arlon business (the Merged Plan).
The Company also maintains the Rogers Corporation Amended and Restated Pension Restoration Plan effective as of January 1, 2004 and the Rogers Corporation Amended and Restated Pension Restoration Plan effective as of January 1, 2005 (collectively, the Nonqualified Plans). The Nonqualified Plans serve to restore certain retirement benefits that might otherwise be lost due to limitations imposed by federal law on qualified pension plans, as well as to provide supplemental retirement benefits, for certain senior executives of the Company. In addition, we sponsor multiple fully insured or self-funded medical plans and life insurance plans for certain retirees. The measurement date for all plans is December 31st for each respective plan year.
We are required, as an employer, to: (a) recognize in our consolidated statements of financial position an asset for a plan’s overfunded status or a liability for a plan’s underfunded status; (b) measure a plan’s assets and our obligations that determine our funded status as of the end of the year; and (c) recognize changes in the funded status of a defined benefit postretirement plan in the year in which the changes occur and report these changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss. In addition, actuarial gains and losses that are not immediately recognized as net periodic pension cost are recognized as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss and amortized into net periodic pension cost in future periods.
Pension Plan Proposed Termination
The Company currently intends to terminate the Merged Plan and has received a determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The termination of the Merged Plan remains subject to final approval by management. The Company plans to provide participants an option to elect either a lump sum distribution or an annuity. One or more group annuity contracts with one or more insurance companies will be purchased to settle our obligations for those participants who do not receive a lump sum. The Merged Plan is fully-funded on a GAAP basis, however, in order to terminate the plan in accordance with IRS and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation requirements, the Company will be required to contribute additional assets, if necessary, to settle all of the Merged Plan’s obligations. The amount necessary to do so is not yet known. In addition, the Company expects to record a pension settlement charge at plan termination. This settlement charge will include the immediate recognition into expense of the unrecognized losses within accumulated other comprehensive loss on the statement of financial position as of the plan termination date. The Company does not have a current estimate of this future charge, however, the pre-tax accumulated other comprehensive loss related to the Merged Plan was approximately $47 million as of December 31, 2018. The settlement charge for the accumulated other comprehensive loss would be a non-cash charge. We currently estimate that if the plan termination is approved by management, it will be completed during the fourth quarter of 2019, when lump sum distributions are expected to occur and one or more annuity contracts are expected to be purchased. At this time, there are no plans to terminate the Union Plan.
Components of Net Periodic (Benefit) Cost
The components of net periodic (benefit) cost for the periods indicated were:
 
Pension Benefits
 
Retirement Health and Life Insurance Benefits
(Dollars in thousands)
Three Months Ended
 
Three Months Ended
March 31,
 
March 31,
 
2019
 
2018
 
2019
 
2018
Service cost
$

 
$

 
$
18

 
$
20

Interest cost
1,784

 
1,680

 
15

 
15

Expected return of plan assets
(2,192
)
 
(2,169
)
 

 

Amortization of prior service credit

 

 
(253
)
 
(400
)
Amortization of net loss
454

 
456

 

 

Net periodic cost (benefit)
$
46

 
$
(33
)
 
$
(220
)
 
$
(365
)

Employer Contributions
There were no required contributions to our qualified defined benefit pension plans for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018, and we are not required to make additional contributions to these plans for the remainder of 2019. No voluntary contributions were made to our qualified defined benefit pension plans for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.
As there is no funding requirement for the Nonqualified Plans or the Retiree Health and Life Insurance benefit plans, we fund the amount of benefit payments made during the year, which were immaterial for the three months ended March 31, 2019 and 2018.