PENSION PLANS

The Company sponsors defined benefit pension plans that cover substantially all of its French and German employees. Plan benefits are provided in accordance with local statutory requirements. Benefits are based on years of service and employee compensation levels. The plans are unfunded. Pension liabilities and charges are based upon various assumptions, updated annually, including discount rates, future salary increases, employee turnover, and mortality rates.

The Company’s French pension plan provides for termination benefits paid to covered French employees only at retirement, and consists of approximately one to five months of salary. The Company’s German pension plan provides for defined benefit payouts for covered German employees following retirement.

The aggregate net pension expense relating to these two plans are as follows:



	Three Months Ended
	March 31, 2014		March 31, 2013
	(in thousands)
Service costs	$	389	$	461
Interest costs	385		366
Amortization of actuarial loss	19		15
Net pension period cost	$	793	$	842

The Company’s net pension period cost for 2014 is expected to be approximately $3.2 million. Cash funding for benefits paid was $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2014. The Company expects total contribution to these plans to be approximately $0.5 million in 2014.