Note 11. Employee Benefits

Employee Stock Ownership Plan

We have a tax-qualified employee stock ownership plan (the “ESOP”) that is a noncontributory plan that covers certain salaried and hourly employees of the Company. The amount of the annual contribution is at the discretion of the Board, except that the minimum amount must be sufficient to enable the ESOP trust to meet its current obligations.

Defined Contribution Plans

Effective in 1998, the Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. Master 401(k) Plan (the “Master Plan”) was established, which combined several of the various 401(k) and profit‑sharing plans of the Company and its subsidiaries into one plan. Salaried and certain hourly employees of the Company and its participating subsidiaries are covered under the Master Plan. The Master Plan allows each subsidiary’s Board to determine independently the annual matching percentage and maximum compensation limits or annual profit‑sharing contribution. Eligibility occurs after three months of service, and the Company contribution vests at 25% per year, commencing one year after the employee enters the Master Plan. Other 401(k) and profit‑sharing plans exist as certain subsidiaries have not combined their plans into the Master Plan as of December 31, 2016.

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans

Effective January 1996, we adopted a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”), which is a nonqualified pension plan that provides postretirement pension benefits to certain key officers of the Company. The SERP is administered by the Compensation Committee of the Board. Benefits are based upon the employees’ earnings. Life insurance policies were purchased for most individuals covered by the SERP. Separate SERP’s exist for certain wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company, each of which provides postretirement pension benefits to certain current and former key employees. All of the plans have been frozen to include only existing participants.

Deferred Compensation Plan

In December 2008, a deferred compensation plan was put in place for certain officers and key employees of the Company. Account balances from various compensation plans of subsidiaries were transferred and consolidated into this new deferred compensation plan. The balance in the Reliance Deferred Compensation Plan as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 was $16.6 million and $16.0 million, respectively. The balance of the assets set aside for funding future payouts under the deferred compensation plan amounted to $15.8 million as of December 31, 2016.

Defined Benefit Plans

We, through certain subsidiaries, maintain qualified defined benefit pension plans for certain of our union employees. These plans generally provide benefits of stated amounts for each year of service or provide benefits based on the participant's hourly wage rate and years of service. The plans permit the sponsor, at any time, to amend or terminate the plans subject to union approval, if applicable. Certain of these plans are frozen as of December 31, 2016.

We use a December 31 measurement date for our plans. The following is a summary of the status of the funding of the various SERP’s and Defined Benefit Plans:


	SERP’s				Defined Benefit Plans
	2016		2015		2016		2015
	(in millions)				(in millions)
Change in benefit obligation
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	49.4	$	45.9	$	96.3	$	100.5
Service cost		1.1		1.0		1.6		1.7
Interest cost		1.6		1.3		3.9		3.7
Actuarial loss (gain)		1.1		2.5		0.6		(7.4)
Benefits paid		(1.3)		(1.3)		(6.1)		(3.4)
Plan amendments		—		—		—		1.2
Plan settlements		(3.4)		—		(0.4)		—
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	48.5	$	49.4	$	95.9	$	96.3

Change in plan assets
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year		N/A		N/A	$	70.2	$	72.4
Actual return on plan assets		N/A		N/A		3.9		(0.6)
Employer contributions		N/A		N/A		5.5		1.8
Benefits paid		N/A		N/A		(6.3)		(3.4)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year		N/A		N/A	$	73.3	$	70.2

Funded status
Funded status of the plans	$	(48.5)	$	(49.4)	$	(22.6)	$	(26.1)

Items not yet recognized as component of net
periodic pension expense
Unrecognized net actuarial losses	$	14.1	$	15.3	$	25.4	$	25.8
Unamortized prior service cost		—		—		2.3		2.7
	$	14.1	$	15.3	$	27.7	$	28.5

As of December 31, 2016 and 2015, the following amounts were recognized in the balance sheet:


	SERP’s				Defined Benefit Plans
	2016		2015		2016		2015
	(in millions)				(in millions)
Amounts recognized in the statement of financial position
Current liabilities	$	(14.8)	$	(4.4)	$	—	$	—
Noncurrent liabilities		(33.7)		(45.0)		(22.6)		(26.1)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		14.1		15.3		27.7		28.5
Net amount recognized	$	(34.4)	$	(34.1)	$	5.1	$	2.4

The accumulated benefit obligation for all SERP’s was $44.2 million and $44.7 million as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The accumulated benefit obligation for all defined benefit pension plans was $95.9 million and $96.3 million as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.


	Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015
	(in millions)
Information for defined benefit plans with an accumulated benefit obligation and projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	95.9	$	96.3
Projected benefit obligation		95.9		96.3
Fair value of plan assets		73.3		70.2

Following are the details of net periodic benefit cost related to the SERP’s and Defined Benefit Plans:


	SERP’s						Defined Benefit Plans
	Year Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014		2016		2015		2014
	(in millions)						(in millions)
Service cost	$	1.1	$	1.0	$	0.9	$	1.6	$	1.7	$	1.3
Interest cost		1.6		1.3		1.5		3.9		3.7		3.8
Expected return on plan assets		—		—		—		(4.6)		(5.0)		(5.1)
Curtailment/settlement expense		1.0		—		—		0.1		—		—
Prior service (credit) cost		—		(0.3)		(0.5)		0.3		0.2		0.2
Amortization of net loss		1.4		1.5		0.7		1.5		1.8		0.4
	$	5.1	$	3.5	$	2.6	$	2.8	$	2.4	$	0.6

Assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost are detailed below:


	SERP’s						Defined Benefit Plans
	Year Ended December 31,						Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014		2016		2015		2014
Weighted average assumptions to determine net cost
Discount rate	3.45	%	3.02	%	4.07	%	4.13	%	3.87	%	4.70	%
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets	N/A		N/A		N/A		6.57	%	6.59	%	7.22	%
Rate of compensation increase	6.00	%	6.00	%	6.00	%	N/A		N/A		N/A

Assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation are detailed below:


	SERP’s				Defined Benefit Plans
	December 31,				December 31,
	2016		2015		2016		2015
Weighted average assumptions to determine benefit obligations
Discount rate	3.34	%	3.42	%	3.93	%	4.13	%
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets	N/A		N/A		6.57	%	6.59	%
Rate of compensation increase	6.00	%	6.00	%	N/A		N/A

Employer contributions to the SERP’s and Defined Benefit Plans during 2017 are expected to be $14.8 million and $3.2 million, respectively.

Plan Assets and Investment Policy

The weighted‑average asset allocations of our Defined Benefit Plans by asset category are as follows:


	December 31,
	2016		2015
Plan Assets
Equity securities	58	%	56	%
Debt securities	38	%	38	%
Other	4	%	6	%
Total	100	%	100	%

Plan assets are invested in various asset classes that are expected to produce a sufficient level of diversification and investment return over the long term. The investment goal is a return on assets that is at least equal to the assumed actuarial rate of return over the long-term within reasonable and prudent levels of risk. Investment policies reflect the unique circumstances of the respective plans and include requirements designed to mitigate risk including quality and diversification standards. Asset allocation targets are reviewed periodically with investment advisors to determine the appropriate investment strategies for acceptable risk levels. Our target allocation ranges are as follows: equity securities 50% to 80%, debt securities 20% to 60% and other assets of 0% to 10%. We establish our estimated long‑term return on plan assets considering various factors including the targeted asset allocation percentages, historic returns and expected future returns.

The fair value measurements of our Defined Benefit Plan assets fall within the following levels of the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2016 and 2015:


	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total
	(in millions)
December 31, 2016:
Common stock (1)	$	23.5	$	—	$	—	$	23.5
U.S. government, state, and agency		—		7.3		—		7.3
Corporate debt securities (2)		—		10.3		—		10.3
Mutual funds (3)		26.3		3.0		—		29.3
Interest and non-interest bearing cash		2.9		—		—		2.9
	$	52.7	$	20.6	$	—	$	73.3

December 31, 2015:
Common stock (1)	$	24.8	$	—	$	—	$	24.8
U.S. government, state, and agency		—		7.9		—		7.9
Corporate debt securities (2)		—		9.7		—		9.7
Mutual funds (3)		21.1		2.3		—		23.4
Interest and non-interest bearing cash		4.4		—		—		4.4
	$	50.3	$	19.9	$	—	$	70.2

⁽¹⁾

Comprised primarily of securities of large domestic and foreign companies. Valued at the closing price reported on the active market on which the individual securities are traded.

⁽²⁾

Valued using a combination of inputs including: benchmark yields, reported trades, broker/dealer quotes, issuer spreads, two‑sided markets, benchmark securities, bids, offers, and reference data.

⁽³⁾

Level 1 assets are comprised of exchange traded funds, money market funds, and stock and bond funds. These assets are valued at closing price for exchange traded funds and Net Asset Value (NAV) for open‑end and closed‑end mutual funds. Level 2 assets are comprised of fixed income funds and pooled separate accounts and are valued at the net asset value per unit based on either the observable net asset value of the underlying investment or the net asset value of the underlying pool of securities.

Summary Disclosures for All Defined Benefit Plans

The following is a summary of benefit payments under our various defined benefit plans, which reflect expected future employee service, as appropriate, expected to be paid in the periods indicated:


			Defined
	SERP’s		Benefit Plans
		(in millions)
2017	$	14.8	$	4.0
2018		1.2		4.2
2019		1.2		4.5
2020		12.7		4.6
2021		1.1		4.8
2022 – 2026		12.1		27.5

The amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss that are expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost during 2017 are as follows:


			Defined
	SERP’s		Benefit Plans
	(in millions)
Actuarial loss	$	1.1	$	1.5
Prior service cost		—		0.3
Total	$	1.1	$	1.8

Supplemental Bonus Plan

In connection with the acquisition of EMJ in April 2006, Reliance assumed the obligation resulting from EMJ’s settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor to contribute 258,006 shares of Reliance common stock to EMJ’s Supplemental Bonus Plan, a phantom stock bonus plan supplementing the EMJ Retirement Savings Plan. In 2005, EMJ had reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor regarding a change in its methodology for annual valuations of its stock while it was a private company, for the purpose of making contributions in stock to its retirement plan. As of December 31, 2016, the remaining obligation to the EMJ Supplemental Bonus Plan consisted of the cash equivalent of 82,354 shares of Reliance common stock totaling $6.6 million. The adjustments to reflect this obligation at fair value based on the closing price of our common stock at the end of each reporting period are included in Warehouse, delivery, selling, general and administrative expense. The expense (income) from mark to market adjustments to this obligation in each of the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 amounted to $2.1 million, $(0.2) million and $(1.3) million, respectively. This obligation will be satisfied by future cash payments to participants upon their termination of employment.

Contributions to Reliance Sponsored Retirement Plans

Our expense for Reliance‑sponsored retirement plans was as follows:


	Year Ended December 31,
	2016		2015		2014
	(in millions)
Master Plan	$	22.3	$	21.4	$	21.5
Other Defined Contribution Plans		8.5		7.9		7.0
Employee Stock Ownership Plan		1.8		1.5		1.8
Deferred Compensation Plan		0.7		0.6		0.6
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans		5.1		3.5		2.6
Defined Benefit Plans		2.8		2.4		0.6
	$	41.2	$	37.3	$	34.1