Employee Benefit Plans

The Company has various defined contribution retirement plans that cover the majority of its domestic employees. These retirement plans permit participants to elect to have contributions made to the retirement plans in the form of salary deferrals. Under these retirement plans, the Company may match a portion of employee contributions. Amounts contributed by the Company were not material for any period presented herein.

The Company sponsors deferred compensation plans for eligible employees and non-employee members of its board of directors. These plans allow eligible participants to defer payment of all or part of their compensation. Deferrals under these plans were $1.9 million and $1.6 million for 2014 and 2013, respectively. Assets and liabilities associated with these plans were approximately $12.5 million and $11.0 million, as of September 27, 2014 and September 28, 2013, respectively, and are recorded in other non-current assets and other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

Defined benefit plans covering certain employees in the United States and Canada were frozen in 2001. Employees who had not yet vested will continue to be credited with service until vesting occurs, but no additional benefits will accrue.

The Company also provides defined benefit pension plans in certain other countries. The assumptions used for calculating the pension benefit obligations for non-U.S. plans depend on the local economic environment and regulations. The measurement date for the Company's pension plans is September 27, 2014.

Changes in benefit obligations for the plans described above were as follows (in thousands):



	As of September 27, 2014						As of September 28, 2013						As of September 29, 2012
Change in Benefit Obligations	U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.
Beginning projected benefit obligation	$	26,702		$	44,590		$	29,601		$	35,171		$	26,885		$	25,396
Service cost	—			1,172			—			1,144			—			666
Interest cost	966			1,771			791			1,721			1,027			1,388
Actuarial (gain) loss	1,998			4,187			(2,050		)	3,561			4,121			9,729
Benefits paid	(660		)	(912		)	(674		)	(1,083		)	(2,432		)	(722		)
Other (1)	(1,655		)	(1,755		)	(966		)	4,076			—			(1,286		)
Ending projected benefit obligation	$	27,351		$	49,053		$	26,702		$	44,590		$	29,601		$	35,171

Ending accumulated benefit obligation	$	27,351		$	44,363		$	26,702		$	40,072		$	29,601		$	31,917


(1)	Related to miscellaneous items such as settlements, curtailments, foreign exchange movements, etc.

Weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine benefit obligations were as follows:



	U.S. Pensions				Non-U.S. Pensions
	As of				As of
	September 27, 2014		September 28, 2013		September 27, 2014		September 28, 2013
Discount rate	3.12	%	3.78	%	3.58	%	4.14	%
Rate of compensation increases	—	%	—	%	2.59	%	3.29	%

The Company evaluates these assumptions on a regular basis taking into consideration current market conditions and historical market data. The discount rate is used to measure expected future cash flows at present value on the measurement date. This rate represents the market rate for high-quality fixed income investments. A lower discount rate would increase the present value of the benefit obligation. Other assumptions include demographic factors such as retirement, mortality, and turnover.

Changes in plan assets and funded status for the plans described above were as follows (in thousands):



	As of September 27, 2014						As of September 28, 2013						As of September 29, 2012
Change in Plan Assets	U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.
Beginning fair value	$	20,767		$	28,255		$	20,443		$	24,853		$	18,809		$	26,087
Actual return	3,020			930			1,964			1,239			2,466			1,144
Employer contributions	—			394			—			589			1,600			295
Benefits paid	(660		)	(912		)	(674		)	(1,083		)	(2,432		)	(722		)
Actuarial gain (loss)	—			1,789			—			1,397			—			(463		)
Settlements	(1,655		)	—			(966		)	—			—			—
Foreign currency exchange rate differences	—			(1,407		)	—			1,260			—			(1,488		)
Ending fair value	$	21,472		$	29,049		$	20,767		$	28,255		$	20,443		$	24,853
Underfunded Status	$	(5,879	)	$	(20,004	)	$	(5,935	)	$	(16,335	)	$	(9,158	)	$	(10,318	)

Weighted-average asset allocations by asset category for the U.S. and non-U.S. plans were as follows:



	U.S.						Non-U.S.
	Level 1						Level 1
	As of						As of
	Target		September 27, 2014		September 28, 2013		Target		September 27, 2014		September 28, 2013
Equity securities	51	%	51.0	%	52.0	%	20	%	28.6	%	25.2	%
Debt securities	49	%	49.0	%	46.3	%	80	%	67.3	%	69.8	%
Cash	—	%	—	%	1.7	%	—	%	4.1	%	5.0	%
Total	100	%	100	%	100	%	100	%	100	%	100	%

The Company's investment strategy is designed to ensure that sufficient pension assets are available to pay benefits as they become due. In order to meet this objective, the Company has established targeted investment allocation percentages for equity and debt securities as noted in the preceding table. As of September 27, 2014, U.S. plan assets are invested in mutual funds which are valued based on the net asset value (NAV) of the underlying securities in an active market, which is considered a Level 1 input under ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (refer to Note 5). The beneficial interest of each participant is represented in units which are issued and redeemed daily at the fund's closing NAV. Non-U.S. plan assets are invested in publicly-traded mutual funds consisting of medium-term Euro bonds and stocks of companies in the European region. The mutual funds are valued using the NAV that is quoted in an active market and is considered a Level 1 input under ASC Topic 820. The plans are managed consistent with regulations or market practice of the country in which the assets are invested. As of September 27, 2014 there were no significant concentrations of credit risk related to pension plan assets.

The funded status of the plans, reconciled to the amount reported on the consolidated balance sheets, is as follows (in thousands):



	As of September 27, 2014						As of September 28, 2013						As of September 29, 2012
	U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.
Components of Net Amount Recognized on Consolidated Balance Sheets:
Current liabilities	$	—		$	(894	)	$	—		$	(615	)	$	—		$	(395	)
Non-current liabilities	(5,879		)	(19,110		)	(5,935		)	(15,720		)	(9,158		)	(9,923		)
Net asset (liability) recognized on Consolidated Balance Sheets	$	(5,879	)	$	(20,004	)	$	(5,935	)	$	(16,335	)	$	(9,158	)	$	(10,318	)

Amounts recognized in AOCI (pre-tax) consisted of (in thousands):



	As of September 27, 2014				As of September 28, 2013				As of September 29, 2012
	U.S.		Non-U.S.		U.S.		Non-U.S.		U.S.		Non-U.S.
Unrecognized transition obligation	$	—	$	8	$	—	$	32	—		$	55
Unrecognized net actuarial loss	5,255		11,819		6,151		10,381		10,674		8,631
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	$	5,255	$	11,827	$	6,151	$	10,413	$	10,674	$	8,686

Estimated amortization from accumulated other comprehensive income into net periodic benefit cost in 2015 is not material. Net periodic benefit costs consist primarily of service cost and interest cost and were not material for any period presented herein.

Weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit costs were as follows:



	U.S. Pensions				Non-U.S. Pensions
	As of				As of
	September 27, 2014		September 28, 2013		September 27, 2014		September 28, 2013
Discount rate	3.78	%	2.75	%	4.14	%	4.39	%
Expected return on plan assets	4.50	%	4.00	%	3.50	%	3.50	%
Rate of compensation increases	—	%	—	%	3.29	%	0.97	%

The expected long-term rate of return on assets for the U.S. and non-U.S. pension plans used in these calculations is assumed to be 4.50% and 3.50%, respectively. Several factors, including historical rates of returns, expectations of future returns for each major asset class in which the plan invests, the weight of each asset class in the target mix, the correlations between asset classes and their expected volatilities are considered in developing the asset return assumptions.

Estimated future benefit payments are as follows:



	Pension Benefits
	(In thousands)
2015	$	8,204
2016	$	4,041
2017	$	3,878
2018	$	4,158
2019	$	4,230
Years 2020 through 2023	$	21,991