Multiemployer Pension Plan

6 Months Ended

Jun. 28, 2015

Loss Contingency [Abstract]

Multiemployer Pension Plan

Multiemployer Pension Plan

As further described in the Form 10-K, in December 2013, The New Bakery Co. of Ohio, Inc. (the “Bakery Company”), a 100% owned subsidiary of Wendy’s, now known as The New Bakery Company, LLC, terminated its participation in the Bakery and Confectionery Union and Industry International Pension Fund (the “Union Pension Fund”) and formally notified the plan’s trustees of its withdrawal from the plan. The Union Pension Fund administrator acknowledged the withdrawal, which required Wendy’s to assume an estimated withdrawal liability of $13,500 based on the applicable requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, as amended, and which was included in “Cost of sales” during the fourth quarter of 2013. As a result, Wendy’s made payments to the Union Pension Fund aggregating $1,014 during 2014 and 2015 which were recorded as reductions to the withdrawal liability. The Bakers Local No. 57, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union of America, AFL-CIO (the “Union”) filed a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”) related to the Bakery Company’s withdrawal from the Union Pension Fund. On July 22, 2014, The New Bakery of Zanesville, LLC (“Zanesville”), a 100% owned subsidiary of Wendy’s, and the Union entered into a settlement agreement with the NLRB.  The terms of the settlement include an agreement by Zanesville and the Union to recommence negotiations. On March 27, 2015, Zanesville and the Union signed a memorandum of agreement outlining the terms for a new collective bargaining agreement, including re-entering the Union Pension Fund and signing the collective bargaining agreement on or about May 15, 2015. The terms of the collective bargaining agreement were ratified by the Union and became effective upon execution of the collective bargaining agreement. During the first quarter of 2015, the Company began negotiating the potential sale of the Bakery Company which would result in the buyer signing the collective bargaining agreement and re-entering the Union Pension Fund. As a result, the Company concluded that its loss contingency for the pension withdrawal payments was no longer probable and, as such, reversed $12,486 of the outstanding withdrawal liability to “Cost of sales” during the first quarter of 2015.

During the second quarter of 2015, with negotiations ongoing, Zanesville and the Union agreed to an extension of the May 15, 2015 deadline for re-entering the Union Pension Fund. On May 15, 2015, in preparation for the sale of the Bakery, Zanesville merged into the Bakery Company. The Bakery Company was sold on May 31, 2015 and subsequently the Bakery Company signed the collective bargaining agreement and re-entered the Union Pension Fund. As a result of the sale, Wendy’s no longer has any obligations related to the Union Pension Fund. See Note 2 for more information on the sale of the Bakery.