Pension and Other Employee Benefits

12 Months Ended

Sep. 26, 2020

The Company has certain defined benefit pension plans covering the employees of its Hitec Imaging German subsidiary (the “Pension Benefits”). As of September 26, 2020 and September 28, 2019, the Company’s pension liability was $10.9 million and $10.0 million, respectively, which is primarily recorded as a component of long-term liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Under German law, there are no rules governing investment or statutory supervision of the pension plan. As such, there is no minimum funding requirement imposed on employers. Pension benefits are safeguarded by the Pension Guaranty Fund, a form of compulsory reinsurance that guarantees an employee will receive vested pension benefits in the event of insolvency. The pension plans were closed on December 31, 1997 and only eligible employees at that date could participate in the plans prior to closing to new participants.

The tables below provide a reconciliation of benefit obligations, plan assets, funded status, and related actuarial assumptions of the Company’s German Pension Benefits.


Change in Benefit Obligation	Years ended
	September 26, 2020		September 28, 2019		September 29, 2018
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	(10.0)	$	(9.7)	$	(9.9)
Service cost	—		—		—
Interest cost	(0.1)		(0.2)		(0.2)
Plan participants’ contributions	—		—		—
Actuarial gain (loss)	(0.5)		(1.0)		(0.1)
Foreign exchange gain	(0.7)		0.6		0.2
Benefits paid	0.4		0.3		0.3
Benefit obligation at end of year	(10.9)		(10.0)		(9.7)
Plan assets	—		—		—
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	(10.9)	$	(10.0)	$	(9.7)

The tables below outline the components of the net periodic benefit cost and related actuarial assumptions of the Company’s German Pension Benefits.


Components of Net Periodic Benefit Cost	Years ended
	September 26, 2020		September 28, 2019		September 29, 2018
Service cost	$	—	$	—	$	—
Interest cost	0.1		0.2		0.2
Expected return on plan assets	—		—		—
Amortization of prior service cost	—		—		—
Recognized net actuarial gain	0.2		0.1		0.1
Net periodic benefit cost	$	0.3	$	0.3	$	0.3


Weighted-Average Net Periodic Benefit Cost Assumptions	2020		2019		2018
Discount rate	0.80	%	1.10	%	1.95	%
Expected return on plan assets	—	%	—	%	—	%
Rate of compensation increase	—	%	—	%	—	%

The projected benefit obligation for the German Pension Benefits with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets was $10.9 million and $10.0 million at September 26, 2020 and September 28, 2019, respectively, and the accumulated benefit obligation for the German Pension Benefits was $10.9 million and $10.0 million at September 26, 2020 and September 28, 2019, respectively.

The Company is also obligated to pay long-term service award benefits under the German Pension Benefits. The projected benefit obligation for long-term service awards was $0.1 million at both September 26, 2020 and September 28, 2019, respectively.

The table below reflects the total Pension Benefits expected to be paid for the German Pension Benefits each fiscal year as of September 26, 2020:



2021	$	0.4
2022	$	0.4
2023	$	0.4
2024	$	0.4
2025	$	0.4
2026 to 2030	$	2.2

The Company also maintains additional contractual pension benefits for its top German executive officers in the form of a defined contribution plan. These contributions were insignificant in fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018. Additionally, the Company has Swiss pension plans, which were insignificant in fiscal 2020, 2019, and 2018.