Employee Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

The Company maintains a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan that covers substantially all U.S. employees who were employed at December 31, 2011. After that date, no further benefits are being accrued in this plan. For the frozen pension plan, benefits are based primarily on years of service and, for certain plans, levels of compensation.

The Company also maintains supplemental non-qualified plans for certain officers and other key employees, and an Employee Savings and Stock Option Plan (“ESSOP”) for the majority of the U.S. employees.

The Company additionally has a postretirement healthcare benefit plan that provides medical benefits for certain U.S. retirees and eligible dependents hired prior to November 1, 2004. Employees are eligible to receive postretirement healthcare benefits upon meeting certain age and service requirements. No employees hired after October 31, 2004 are eligible to receive these benefits. This plan requires employee contributions to offset benefit costs.

The following table sets forth the components of net periodic benefit cost for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 based on December 31, 2015 and 2014 actuarial measurement dates, respectively:

	Defined pension plan benefits						Other postretirement benefits
(In thousands)	2016			2015			2016			2015
Service cost – benefits earned during the year	$	7		$	16		$	36		$	40
Interest cost on projected benefit obligations	455			446			64			66
Expected return on plan assets	(549		)	(543		)	—			—
Amortization of prior service (benefit) cost	—			—			(6		)	13
Amortization of net loss	157			191			—			—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	70		$	110		$	94		$	119

The Company disclosed in its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015 that it was not required to make a minimum contribution to the defined benefit pension plan for the 2016 calendar year. The Company continues to believe no additional contributions will be required during 2016.

The Company also disclosed in its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2015 that it estimated it would pay $0.4 million in other postretirement benefits in 2016 based on actuarial estimates. As of March 31, 2016, $12,000 of such benefits have been paid. The Company continues to believe that its estimated payments for the full year are reasonable. However, such estimates contain inherent uncertainties because cash payments can vary significantly depending on the timing of postretirement medical claims and the collection of the retirees’ portion of certain costs. Note that the amount of benefits paid in calendar year 2016 will not impact the expense for postretirement benefits for 2016.