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DEFINED BENEFIT RETIREMENT PLAN
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 26, 2020
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
DEFINED BENEFIT RETIREMENT PLAN DEFINED BENEFIT RETIREMENT PLAN
Delta Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, is the sponsor of the Delta Pension Plan ("Plan"). The Plan provides defined benefit retirement income to eligible employees in the United Kingdom. Pension retirement benefits to qualified employees are 1.67% of final salary per year of service upon reaching the age of 65 years. This Plan has no active employees as members at December 26, 2020.
Funded Status
The Company recognizes the overfunded or underfunded status of the pension plan as an asset or liability. The funded status represents the difference between the projected benefit obligation (PBO) and the fair value of the plan assets. The PBO is the present value of benefits earned to date by plan participants, including the effect of assumed future salary increases (if applicable) and inflation. Plan assets are measured at fair value. Because the pension plan is denominated in British pounds sterling, the Company used exchange rates of $1.356/£ and $1.308/£ to translate the net pension liability into U.S. dollars at December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019, respectively. The net funded status of $118,523 at December 26, 2020 is recorded as a noncurrent liability.
Projected Benefit Obligation and Fair Value of Plan Assets—The accumulated benefit obligation (ABO) is the present value of benefits earned to date, assuming no future compensation growth.
As there are no active employees in the plan, the ABO is equal to the PBO for all years presented. The underfunded ABO represents the difference between the PBO and the fair value of plan assets. On October 26, 2018, the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom ruled that pension plans which offered guaranteed minimum pension ("GMP") benefits between 1990 and 1997 must ensure the benefit accrued between men and women were equal. The Company estimated the cost of GMP equalization at £9,500, which was treated as a prior service cost at December 29, 2018. During fiscal 2020, the Company recognized an additional £711 for the effect of GMP equalization.
Changes in the PBO and fair value of plan assets for the pension plan for the period from December 29, 2018 to December 28, 2019 were as follows:
Projected
Benefit
Obligation		Plan
Assets		Funded
status
Fair Value at December 29, 2018$647,440 $503,536 $(143,904)
Employer contributions— 18,461 
Interest cost16,923 — 
Actual return on plan assets— 86,081 
Benefits paid(20,769)(20,769)
Actuarial (gain) loss 79,485 — 
Currency translation21,324 17,087 
Fair Value at December 28, 2019$744,403 $604,396 $(140,007)

    Changes in the PBO and fair value of plan assets for the pension plan for the period from December 28, 2019 to December 26, 2020 were as follows:
Projected
Benefit
Obligation		Plan
Assets		Funded
status
Fair Value at December 28, 2019$744,403 $604,396 $(140,007)
Employer contributions— 35,399 
Interest cost12,954 — 
Prior service costs - GMP equalization949 — 
Actual return on plan assets— 89,988 
Benefits paid(18,212)(18,212)
Actuarial (gain) loss 87,855 — 
Currency translation32,224 30,079 
Fair Value at December 26, 2020$860,173 $741,650 $(118,523)
Actuarial loss that increased the projected benefit obligation was driven by a decrease in 2020 discount rates from 2.05% to 1.40%.
Pre-tax amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019 consisted of actuarial gains (losses):
Balance December 29, 2018$(130,188)
     Actuarial gain (loss)(10,839)
     Currency translation gain (loss)(2,699)
Balance December 28, 2019(143,726)
Actuarial gain (loss)(16,731)
Prior service costs - GMP equalization(814)
Currency translation gain (loss)(3,987)
Balance December 26, 2020$(165,258)

Assumptions—The weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation at December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019 were as follows:
Percentages20202019
Discount rate
1.40 %2.05 %
Salary increase
N/AN/A
CPI inflation
2.00 %2.15 %
RPI inflation
2.90 %3.05 %
Expense
Pension expense is determined based upon the annual service cost of benefits (the actuarial cost of benefits earned during a period) and the interest cost on those liabilities, less the expected return on plan assets. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is applied to the fair value of plan assets. Differences in actual experience in relation to assumptions are not recognized in net earnings immediately, but are deferred and, if necessary, amortized as pension expense.
The components of the net periodic pension expense for the fiscal years ended December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019 were as follows:
20202019
Net Periodic Benefit Cost:
Interest cost
$12,954 $16,923 
Expected return on plan assets
(23,215)(20,000)
Amortization of prior service cost
513 513 
Amortization of actuarial loss
2,437 2,051 
Net periodic benefit expense (benefit)
$(7,311)$(513)
    Assumptions—The weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine expense are as follows for fiscal 2020 and 2019:
Percentages20202019
Discount rate
2.05 %2.90 %
Expected return on plan assets
4.18 %4.25 %
CPI Inflation
2.15 %2.20 %
RPI Inflation
3.05 %3.30 %
The discount rate is based on the yields of AA-rated corporate bonds with durational periods similar to that of the pension liabilities. The expected return on plan assets is based on our asset allocation mix and our historical return, taking into account current and expected market conditions. The expected return of plan assets decreased from 4.18% to 3.96% for 2021 as the projected returns on the corporate bond plan assets is expected to decrease. Inflation is based on expected changes in the consumer price index or the retail price index in the U.K. depending on the relevant plan provisions.
Cash Contributions
The Company completed negotiations with Plan trustees in 2019 regarding annual funding for the Plan. The annual contributions into the Plan are $17,765 (/£13,100) per annum as part of the Plan’s recovery plan, along with a contribution to cover the administrative costs of the Plan of approximately $1,763 (/£1,300) per annum. In December 2020, the Company made its required 2021 annual contribution in addition to the required 2020 annual contribution that was made earlier in fiscal 2020.
Benefit Payments
The following table details expected pension benefit payments for the years 2021 through 2030:
2021$19,935 
202220,477 
202321,155 
202421,698 
202522,376 
Years 2026 - 2030122,727 

Asset Allocation Strategy
The investment strategy for pension plan assets is to maintain a diversified portfolio consisting of
•Long-term fixed‑income securities that are investment grade or government‑backed in nature;
•Common stock mutual funds in U.K. and non-U.K. companies, and;
•Diversified growth funds, which are invested in a number of investments, including common stock, fixed income funds, properties and commodities.
    The Plan, as required by U.K. law, has an independent trustee that sets investment policy. The general strategy is to invest approximately 50% of the assets of the plan in common stock mutual funds and diversified growth funds, with the remainder of the investments in long-term fixed income securities, including corporate bonds and index-linked U.K. gilts. The trustees regularly consult with representatives of the plan sponsor and independent advisors on such matters.
The pension plan investments are held in a trust. The weighted‑average maturity of the corporate bond portfolio was 13 years at December 26, 2020.
Fair Value Measurements
The pension plan assets are valued at fair value. The following is a description of the valuation methodologies used for the investments measured at fair value, including the general classification of such instruments pursuant to the valuation hierarchy.
Leveraged inflation-linked gilts (LDIs)—LDIs are a combination of U.K. government-backed securities (such as bonds or other fixed income securities issued directly by the U.K. Treasury) money market instruments, and derivatives combined to give leveraged exposure to changes in the U.K. long-term interest and inflation rates. These funds are expected to offset a proportion of the impact changes in the long-term interest and inflation rates in the U.K. have on the pension plan's benefit plan obligation liability. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using net asset value (NAV) for each investment.
    Temporary Cash Investments– These investments consist of British pound sterling, reported in terms of U.S. dollars based on currency exchange rates readily available in active markets. These temporary cash investments are classified as Level 1 investments.

Corporate Bonds—Corporate bonds and debentures consist of fixed income securities issued by U.K. corporations. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using NAV for each investment.
Corporate Stock—This investment category consists of common and preferred stock, including mutual funds, issued by U.K. and non-U.K. corporations. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using NAV for each investment.
    Secured income asset (SIA) funds - This investment category consists of holdings which will have a high level of expected inflation linkage. Examples of underlying assets classes are rental streams and infrastructure debt. Due to the private nature of these investments, pricing inputs are not readily observable.  Asset valuations are developed by the fund manager.  These valuations are based on the application of public market multiples to private company cash flows, market transactions that provide valuation information for comparable companies, and other methods. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using NAV.
    At December 26, 2020 and December 28, 2019, the pension plan assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:
December 31, 2020Quoted Prices in
Active Markets
for Identical
Inputs (Level 1)		Significant Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)		Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level 3)		Total
Plan assets at fair value:
Temporary cash investments$31,935 $— $— $31,935 
Corporate stock— — — — 
Total plan net assets at fair value$31,935 $— $— $31,935 
Plan assets at NAV:
Leveraged inflation-linked gilt funds171,013 
Corporate bonds115,577 
Corporate stock309,987 
Secured income asset funds113,138 
Total plan assets at NAV709,715 
  Total plan assets$741,650 

December 31, 2019Quoted Prices in
Active Markets
for Identical
Inputs (Level 1)		Significant Other
Observable
Inputs
(Level 2)		Significant
Unobservable
Inputs
(Level 3)		Total
Plan assets at fair value:
Temporary cash investments$38,388 $— $— $38,388 
Corporate stock— — — — 
Total plan net assets at fair value$38,388 $— $— $38,388 
Plan assets at NAV:
Leveraged inflation-linked gilt funds123,637 
Corporate bonds97,638 
Corporate stock234,612 
Secured income asset funds110,121 
Total plan assets at NAV566,008 
  Total plan assets$604,396