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 a deferred compensation plan for eligible employees that allows participants to defer payment of all or part of their compensation. Deferrals under this plan were $5 million for both 2018 and 2017. Assets and liabilities associated with these plans were $35 million and $35 million, respectively, as of September 29, 2018 and $27 million and $29 million, respectively, as of September 30, 2017. These amounts 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 defined benefit plans is September 29, 2018.

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



	As of September 29, 2018						As of September 30, 2017						As of October 1, 2016
Change in Benefit Obligations	U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.
Beginning projected benefit obligation	$	24,743		$	48,873		$	28,375		$	53,656		$	26,441		$	48,816
Service cost	—			1,331			—			1,210			—			1,569
Interest cost	729			1,333			737			1,088			871			1,341
Actuarial gain (loss)	(1,199		)	1,179			(1,987		)	(5,609		)	3,456			3,244
Benefits paid	(716		)	(1,571		)	(709		)	(1,499		)	(718		)	(1,266		)
Other (1)	(971		)	(215		)	(1,673		)	27			(1,675		)	(48		)
Ending projected benefit obligation	$	22,586		$	50,930		$	24,743		$	48,873		$	28,375		$	53,656

Ending accumulated benefit obligation	$	22,586		$	47,149		$	24,743		$	45,532		$	28,375		$	48,371


(1)	Includes miscellaneous items such as settlements, curtailments, foreign exchange rate 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 29, 2018		September 30, 2017		September 29, 2018		September 30, 2017
Discount rate	3.77	%	3.05	%	2.78	%	2.78	%
Rate of compensation increases	—	%	—	%	2.08	%	1.98	%

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 defined benefit plans described above were as follows (in thousands):



	As of September 29, 2018						As of September 30, 2017						As of October 1, 2016
Change in Plan Assets	U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.			U.S.			Non-U.S.
Beginning fair value	$	16,930		$	26,993		$	17,594		$	26,045		$	18,646		$	27,079
Actual return	1,086			(8		)	1,598			590			1,341			(461		)
Employer contributions	455			710			120			695			—			607
Benefits paid	(716		)	(1,571		)	(709		)	(1,499		)	(718		)	(1,266		)
Other (1)	(971		)	(10		)	(1,673		)	1,162			(1,675		)	86
Ending fair value	$	16,784		$	26,114		$	16,930		$	26,993		$	17,594		$	26,045
Underfunded status	$	(5,802	)	$	(24,816	)	$	(7,813	)	$	(21,880	)	$	(10,781	)	$	(27,611	)


(1)	Includes miscellaneous items such as settlements, foreign exchange rate movements, etc.

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 29, 2018		September 30, 2017		Target		September 29, 2018		September 30, 2017
Equity securities	51	%	51.7	%	52.8	%	20	%	27.5	%	30.0	%
Debt securities	49	%	48.3	%	47.2	%	80	%	69.3	%	67.5	%
Cash	—	%	—	%	—	%	—	%	3.2	%	2.5	%
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 29, 2018, U.S. plan assets are invested in mutual funds which are valued based on the net asset value (NAV) of the underlying securities that is reflective of quoted prices in an active market. 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. The plans are managed consistent with regulations or market practices of the country in which the assets are invested. As of September 29, 2018 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 29, 2018						As of September 30, 2017						As of October 1, 2016
	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	$	—		$	(1,430	)	$	—		$	(1,117	)	$	—		$	(1,260	)
Non-current liabilities	(5,802		)	(23,386		)	(7,813		)	(20,763		)	(10,781		)	(26,351		)
Net liability recognized on consolidated balance sheets	$	(5,802	)	$	(24,816	)	$	(7,813	)	$	(21,880	)	$	(10,781	)	$	(27,611	)

Amounts recognized in AOCI (pre-tax) consist primarily of unrecognized net actuarial losses and are as follows (in thousands):



	As of September 29, 2018				September 30, 2017				As of October 1, 2016
	U.S.		Non-U.S.		U.S.		Non-U.S.		U.S.		Non-U.S.
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	$	2,531	$	11,401	$	4,484	$	10,076	$	7,801	$	16,841

Estimated amortization from accumulated other comprehensive income into net periodic benefit cost in 2019 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
	September 29, 2018		September 30, 2017		September 29, 2018		September 30, 2017
Discount rate	3.05	%	2.71	%	2.78	%	2.32	%
Expected return on plan assets	4.50	%	4.50	%	1.90	%	1.70	%
Rate of compensation increases	—	%	—	%	1.98	%	2.72	%

The expected long-term rate of return on assets for the U.S. and non-U.S. pension plans used in these calculations is developed considering 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.

Estimated future benefit payments are as follows:



	Pension Benefits
	(In thousands)
2019	$	7,779
2020	$	4,349
2021	$	4,276
2022	$	4,401
2023	$	4,631
Years 2024 through 2028	$	21,430