8. Employee benefit plans:

The Company provides an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“ESOP”) and a Retirement Profit Sharing Plan. The Company also maintains a Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”), an Employees’ Pension Plan, which is currently frozen, and a Postretirement Plan Life Insurance plan which was curtailed in 2013.

For the three months ended March 31, salaries and employee benefits expense includes approximately $296 in 2017 and $274 in 2016 relating to the employee benefit plans.

Components of net periodic benefit cost are as follows:



	Pension Benefits
Three Months Ended March 31,	2017	2016
Components of net periodic pension cost:
Interest cost	$	$	166
Expected return on plan assets			(223)
Amortization of unrecognized net gain			52
Net periodic other benefit cost	$	$	(5)

The 2008 long-term incentive plan (“2008 Plan”) allows for eligible participants to be granted equity awards. The plan was a legacy plan of Penseco Financial Services Corporation. Under the 2008 Plan the Compensation Committee of the board of directors has broad authority with respect to awards granted under the 2008 Plan, including, without limitation, the authority to:

Designate the individuals eligible to receive awards under the 2008 Plan.

Determine the size, type and date of grant for individual awards, provided that awards approved by the Committee are not effective unless and until ratified by the board of directors.

Interpret the 2008 Plan and award agreements issued with respect to individual participants.

Persons eligible to receive awards under the 2008 Plan include directors, officers, employees, consultants and other service providers of the Company and its subsidiaries, except that incentive stock option may be granted only to individuals who are employees on the date of grant.

As of March 31, 2017, there were 120,116 shares of the Company’s common stock available for grant as awards pursuant to the 2008 Plan. If any outstanding awards are forfeited by the holder or canceled by the Company, the underlying shares would be available for regrant to others.

The 2008 Plan authorizes grants of stock options, stock appreciation rights, dividend equivalents, performance awards, restricted stock and restricted stock units.

During the three months ended March 31, 2017, the Company awarded 2,020 shares of non-performance-based restricted stock, bringing the total of nonvested restricted stock awards to 14,382 shares, and 7,071 performance-based restricted stock units under the 2008 Plan. During the three months ended March 31, 2016, the Company did not make any awards under the 2008 Plan.

The non-performance restricted stock grants made during the three months ended March 31, 2017 vest equally over three years from the grant date. Grants of restricted stock made in prior periods cliff vest after five years. The performance-based restricted stock units vest three years after the grant date and include conditions based on the Company’s three-year cumulative diluted earnings per share and three-year average return on equity that determines the number of restricted stock units that may vest.

The Company expenses the fair value of all-share based compensation over the requisite service period commencing at grant date. The fair value of restricted stock is expensed on a straight-line basis. The Company periodically assesses the probability of achievement of the performance criteria and adjusts the amount of compensation expense accordingly. Compensation is recognized over the vesting period and adjusted for the probability of achievement of the performance criteria. The Company classifies share-based compensation for employees within “salaries and employee benefits expense” on the Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income.

The Company did not recognize any compensation expense for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively for awards granted under the 2008 Plan. As of March 31, 2017, the Company had $365 of unrecognized compensation expense associated with awards. That cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted average vesting period of 3 years.