Employee Benefit Plans

We maintain several defined contribution plans and defined benefit plans which cover a substantial number of employees.

Defined Contribution Plans

Eligible employees can elect to contribute up to 25% of their compensation to our 401(k) plan. Effective January 1, 2016, the plan was amended and restated to incorporate Safe Harbor Plan design features which included changes to participant eligibility, company contribution amounts and vesting. As a result, we match up to a maximum of 4% of compensation deferred by the participant.

In addition, a non-qualified deferred compensation plan is offered to certain employees. This plan allows participants to defer up to 50% of annual salary and up to 100% of bonuses and incentive compensation awards, on a pre-tax basis. There are no matching contributions made under this plan.

We made total contributions of $2.2 million, $2.0 million and $2.2 million for 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, under these plans.

Defined Benefit Plans

Benefits under our defined benefit plans are based upon each employee’s years of service and average salary. The following table provides a reconciliation of the changes in the benefit obligations, plan assets, and funded status of our defined benefit plans:



	December 26, 2018			December 27, 2017
	(In thousands)
Change in Benefit Obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	2,608		$	2,639
Interest cost	76			83
Actuarial (gains) losses	(96		)	172
Benefits paid	(195		)	(195		)
Settlements	—			(91		)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	2,393		$	2,608
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	2,393		$	2,608
Change in Plan Assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	—		$	—
Employer contributions	195			286
Benefits paid	(195		)	(195		)
Settlements	—			(91		)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	—		$	—
Funded status at end of year	$	(2,393	)	$	(2,608	)
Amounts recognized on the balance sheet:
Other current liabilities	$	(584	)	$	(280	)
Other noncurrent liabilities	(1,809		)	(2,328		)
Net amount recognized	$	(2,393	)	$	(2,608	)
Amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss not yet reflected in net period benefit cost:
Unamortized actuarial losses, net	$	(885	)	$	(1,093	)
Other changes in plan assets and benefit obligations recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss:
Benefit obligation actuarial gain (loss)	$	96		$	(172	)
Amortization of net loss	112			92
Settlement loss recognized	—			21
Other comprehensive income (loss)	$	208		$	(59	)

The components of net periodic benefit cost were as follows:



	Fiscal Year Ended
	December 26, 2018		December 27, 2017		December 28, 2016
	(In thousands)
Interest cost	$	76	$	83	$	91
Amortization of net loss	112		92		85
Settlement loss recognized	—		21		—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	188	$	196	$	176

Assumptions

The discount rates used to determine the benefit obligations as of December 26, 2018 and December 27, 2017 were 3.83% and 3.08%, respectively. The discount rates used to determine net period pension costs for 2018, 2017 and 2016 were 3.08%, 3.31% and 3.62%, respectively.

In determining the discount rate, we have considered long-term bond indices of bonds having similar timing and amounts of cash flows as our estimated defined benefit payments. We use a yield curve based on high quality, long-term corporate bonds to calculate the single equivalent discount rate that results in the same present value as the sum of each of the plan’s estimated benefit payments discounted at their respective spot rates.

Contributions and Expected Future Benefit Payments

We made contributions of $0.2 million and $0.3 million to our defined benefit plans during the years ended December 26, 2018 and December 27, 2017, respectively. We expect to contribute $0.6 million to our defined benefit plans during 2019.

Benefits expected to be paid for each of the next five years and in the aggregate for the five fiscal years from 2023 through 2027 are as follows:



	Defined Benefit Plans
	(In thousands)
2019	$	584
2020	263
2021	236
2022	300
2023	393
2024 through 2028	724

Terminated Pension Plan

During 2014, our Board of Directors approved the termination and liquidation of the Advantica Pension Plan (the “Pension Plan”) as of December 31, 2014. During the year ended December 28, 2016, we completed the liquidation of the Pension Plan. Accordingly, we made a final contribution of $9.5 million to the Pension Plan. The resulting $67.7 million in Pension Plan assets were used to make lump sum payments and purchase annuity contracts, which are administered by a third-party provider. In addition, during the year ended December 28, 2016, we recognized a $0.1 million of service cost and pre-tax settlement loss of $24.3 million related to the liquidation (included as a component of operating (gains), losses and other charges), reflecting the recognition of unamortized actuarial losses that were recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income. See Note 9 and Note 17.