Employee Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Note 11. Employee Benefit Plans

Single Employer Pension Plans

As of September 30, 2023, the Company has two defined benefit pension plans for certain employees, the "Farmer Bros. Plan" and the “Hourly Employees' Plan”. The Company froze benefit accruals and participation in these plans effective June 30, 2011 and October 1, 2016, respectively. After the plan freezes, participants do not accrue any benefits under the plan, and new hires are not eligible to participate in the plan.

The net periodic benefit cost for the defined benefit pension plans is as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,
(In thousands)	2023		2022
Interest cost	$	1,204	$	1,156
Expected return on plan assets	(1,122)		(1,009)
Amortization of net loss (1)	207		281
Net periodic benefit cost	$	289	$	428

___________

(1) These amounts represent the estimated portion of the net loss in AOCI that is expected to be recognized as a component of net periodic benefit cost over the current fiscal year. 

Weighted-Average Assumptions Used to Determine Net Periodic Benefit Cost

	September 30, 2023	June 30, 2023
Discount rate	5.05%	4.50%
Expected long-term return on plan assets	7.00%	6.50%

 Multiemployer Pension Plans

The Company participates in one multiemployer defined benefit pension plan that is union sponsored and collectively bargained for the benefit of certain employees subject to collective bargaining agreements, called the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan ("WCTPP"). The Company makes contributions to this plan generally based on the number of hours worked by the participants in accordance with the provisions of negotiated labor contracts. The company also contributes to two defined contribution pension plans (All Other Plans) that are union sponsored and collectively bargained for the benefit of certain employees subject to collective bargaining agreements.

Contributions made by the Company to the multiemployer pension plans were as follows:

	Three Months Ended September 30,
(In thousands)	2023		2022
Contributions to WCTPP	$	316	$	287
Contributions to All Other Plans	8		8

Multiemployer Plans Other Than Pension Plans

The Company participates in nine multiemployer defined contribution plans other than pension plans that provide medical, vision, dental and disability benefits for active, union-represented employees subject to collective bargaining agreements. The plans are subject to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and provide that participating employers make monthly contributions to the plans in an amount as specified in the collective bargaining agreements. Also, the plans provide that participants make self-payments to the plans, the amounts of which are negotiated through the collective bargaining process. The Company’s participation in these plans is governed by collective bargaining agreements which expire on or before March 31, 2027.

401(k) Plan

Farmer Bros. Co. 401(k) Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) is available to all eligible employees. The Company has a matching program that is available to all eligible employees who have worked more than 1,000 hours during a calendar year and were employed at the end of the calendar year. Participants in the 401(k) Plan may choose to contribute a percentage of their annual pay subject to the maximum contribution allowed by the Internal Revenue Service. The Company's matching contribution is discretionary, based on approval by the Company's Board of Directors.

Beginning in January 2022, the Company amended the 401(k) matching program, whereby the Company on a quarterly basis, will contribute, instead of cash, shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $1.00 per share (the “Common Stock”) with a value equal to 50% of any non-union employee's annual contribution to the 401(k) Plan, up to 6% of such employee's eligible income. The terms of the match are substantially the same as the safe-harbor non-elective contribution. Effective January 1, 2023, the Company changed its match to 100% of the first 3% each eligible employee contributes plus 50% on the next 2% they contribute. The Company recorded matching contributions of $0.2 million and $0.5 million in operating expenses in the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively

During the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022, the Company contributed a total of 154,046 and 257,052 of shares Common Stock with a value of $0.2 million and $0.6 million, respectively, to eligible participants’ annual plan compensation.

Postretirement Benefits

Death Benefit

The Company provides a postretirement death benefit (the “Death Benefit” Plan) to certain employees and retirees, subject, in the case of current employees, to continued employment with the Company until retirement and certain other conditions related to the manner of employment termination and manner of death. In June 2021, the Company amended the Death Benefit Plan effective immediately, which triggered re-measurement of the plan. In conjunction with the amendment, the Company created a new Executive Death Benefit Plan (the “Executive Death Benefit Plan”) for a small group of participants in the Death Benefit Plan. Under the Executive Death Benefit Plan, the participants receive the same benefits they would have received under the Death Benefit Plan.

The following table shows the components of net periodic postretirement benefit cost for the Death Benefit Plan for the three months ended September 30, 2023 and 2022.

	Three Months Ended September 30,
(In thousands)	2023		2022
Components of Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost:
Service cost	$	—	$	—
Interest cost	11		10
Amortization of net gain	—		—
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost	$	11	$	10

Weighted-Average Assumptions Used to Determine Net Periodic Postretirement Benefit Cost 

	Fiscal year
	2024	2023
Death Benefit Plan discount rate	5.33%	4.77%