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				Nine Months Ended
	September 30, 2015		September 30, 2014		September 30, 2015		September 30, 2014
	(in thousands)
Service costs	$	282	$	383	$	880	$	1,165
Interest costs	310		378		954		1,151
Amortization of actuarial loss	175		18		501		56
Net pension period cost	$	767	$	779	$	2,335	$	2,372

The Company’s net pension period cost for 2015 is expected to be approximately $3.4 million. Cash funding for benefits paid was $0.1 million and $0.3 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015, respectively. The Company expects total contributions to these plans to be approximately $0.5 million in 2015.