Retirement Benefits

The employees of the Company, if eligible, participate in a qualified defined contribution retirement plan (the “Qualified Plan”) and a non-qualified supplemental retirement plan (the “Non-Qualified Plan”) sponsored by the Company.

Participation in the Company's Qualified Plan is available to employees who meet certain age and service requirements. The Qualified Plan permits employees to elect contributions up to the lesser of 15% of their compensation or the maximum limits allowable under the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC"). The Company matches employee contributions according to a pre-determined formula. Prior to 2014, the Company contributed additional discretionary amounts based on a percentage of the employees' eligible annual compensation and years of service. This discretionary contribution was discontinued effective for the 2014 plan year. Employee contributions and Company matching contributions vest immediately. Additional discretionary Company contributions and the related investment earnings are subject to vesting based on years of service.

Total expense recognized related to the Qualified Plan employer match was $3.8 million, $3.1 million, and $3.1 million in 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively. In addition, the Company recognized expense of $4.8 million related to discretionary contributions to the Qualified Plan in 2013.

Participation in the Non-Qualified Plan is made available to employees who meet certain age, service, job level, and compensation requirements. The Non-Qualified Plan is an unfunded plan which provides benefits beyond the IRC limits for qualified defined contribution plans. The plan permits employees to elect contributions up to a maximum percentage of eligible compensation. The Company matches employee contributions according to a pre-determined formula. The Non-Qualified Plan also previously credited additional amounts based on a percentage of the employees' eligible compensation and years of service, but this portion of the plan was discontinued effective for the 2014 plan year. In addition, the Non-Qualified Plan permits employees to defer additional compensation up to a maximum amount. The Company does not match the contributions for additional deferred compensation. Employees' accounts are credited with interest using a rate determined annually by the Retirement Plan Committee based on a methodology consistent with historical practices. Employee contributions and the related interest vest immediately. Company contributions and the related interest are subject to vesting based on years of service. Employees may elect an in-service distribution for the additional deferred compensation component only. Employees are not permitted to take a withdrawal from any other portion of the Non-Qualified Plan while actively employed with the Company. The remaining vested portion of employees' accounts in the Non-Qualified Plan will be distributed upon termination of employment in either a lump sum or in equal annual installments over a specified period of up to 10 years. Total expense recognized related to the Non-Qualified Plan was $2.2 million, $1.5 million, and $2.6 million in 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.

The Company elected to account for this cash balance plan based on the participant account balances, excluding actuarial considerations, as permitted by the applicable authoritative guidance.

The annual activity for the Company's Non-Qualified Plan, was as follows:



	January 30, 2016			January 31, 2015
	(in thousands)
Balance, beginning of period	$	27,256		$	25,753
Contributions:
Employee	1,633			1,273
Company	746			836
Interest	1,436			1,387
Distributions	(3,179		)	(1,904		)
Forfeitures	(10		)	(89		)
Balance, end of period	$	27,882		$	27,256

These amounts are included in other long-term liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.