Employee Retirement Savings Plan and Deferred Compensation Plan

12 Months Ended

Apr. 26, 2013

Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plan [Abstract]

Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]

Note 13. Employee Retirement and Deferred Compensation Plan

We sponsor the Cyberonics, Inc. Employee Retirement Savings Plan (the “Savings Plan”), which qualifies under Section 401(k) of the IRC. The Savings Plan is designed to provide eligible employees with an opportunity to make regular contributions into a long-term investment and savings program. Substantially all U.S. employees are eligible to participate in the Savings Plan beginning with the first quarterly open enrollment date following the start of their employment. We match 50% of employees’ contributions up to 6% of eligible earnings, subject to a five-year vesting period. We incurred expenses for these contributions of approximately $1.4 million, $1.3 million and $1.1 million for the fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011, respectively.

Effective as of January 1, 2013, we initiated our Deferred Compensation Plan. As part of our overall compensation program, the Deferred Compensation Plan provides a certain group of senior management an opportunity to defer up to 50% of their annual base salary and commissions and 100% of their bonus or performance-based compensation until the earlier of (i) termination of employment or (ii) an elected distribution date. As of April 26, 2013, the liability for compensation deferred under the Deferred Compensation Plan was $0.1 million, which was included with “Long-term liabilities” on our consolidated balance sheet. The assets under the Deferred Compensation Plan substantially offset the liabilities and are included with “Other (long-term) assets” on our consolidated balance sheet.