Employee Benefit Plans

401(k) Savings Plans

The Firm maintains various qualified defined contribution 401(k) retirement savings plans for eligible employees. Assets of these plans are held in trust for the sole benefit of employees and/or their beneficiaries. Employer matching contributions are discretionary and are funded annually as approved by Kforce’s Board.

Kforce accrued matching 401(k) contributions of $1.6 million and $1.5 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The plans held a combined 167 thousand and 201 thousand shares of Kforce’s common stock as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Kforce’s employee stock purchase plan allows all eligible employees to enroll each quarter to purchase Kforce’s common stock at a 5% discount from its market price on the last day of the quarter. Kforce issued 25 thousand, 34 thousand, and 26 thousand shares of common stock at an average purchase price of $20.65, $19.37, and $22.61 per share during the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. All shares purchased under the employee stock purchase plan were settled using Kforce’s treasury stock.

Deferred Compensation Plans

The Firm maintains various non-qualified deferred compensation plans, pursuant to which eligible management and highly compensated key employees, as defined by IRS regulations, may elect to defer all or part of their compensation to later years. These amounts are classified in Accounts payable and other accrued liabilities if payable within the next year or in Other long-term liabilities if payable after the next year, upon retirement or termination of employment in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, amounts included in Accounts payable and other accrued liabilities related to the deferred compensation plans totaled $2.9 million and $2.7 million, respectively. Amounts included in Other long-term liabilities related to the deferred compensation plans totaled $28.9 million and $27.5 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we recognized compensation expense for the plans of $722 thousand, $881 thousand and $401 thousand, respectively. Kforce maintains a Rabbi Trust and holds life insurance policies on certain individuals to assist in the funding of the deferred compensation liability. If necessary, employee distributions are funded through proceeds from the sale of assets held within our Rabbi Trust. The balance of the assets within the Rabbi Trust, including the cash surrender value of the Company-owned life insurance policies, was $31.4 million and $27.3 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and is recorded in Other assets, net in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. As of December 31, 2017, the life insurance policies had a cumulative face value of $213.1 million. Kforce had no realized gains or losses attributable to investments in trading securities for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan

Kforce maintains a SERP for the benefit of certain executive officers. The primary goals of the SERP are to create an additional wealth accumulation opportunity, restore lost qualified pension benefits due to government limitations and retain our covered executive officers. The SERP is a non-qualified benefit plan and does not include elective deferrals of covered executive officers’ compensation.

Normal retirement age under the SERP is defined as age 65; however, certain conditions allow for early retirement as early as age 55 or upon a change in control. Vesting under the plan is defined as 100% upon a participant’s attainment of age 55 and 10 years of service and 0% prior to a participant’s attainment of age 55 and 10 years of service. Full vesting also occurs if a participant with five years or more of service is involuntarily terminated by Kforce without cause or upon death, disability or a change in control. The SERP will be funded entirely by Kforce, and benefits are taxable to the covered executive officer upon receipt and will be deductible by Kforce when paid. Benefits payable under the SERP upon the occurrence of a qualifying distribution event, as defined, are targeted at 45% of the covered executive officers’ average salary and bonus, as defined, from the three years in which the covered executive officer earned the highest salary and bonus during the last 10 years of employment, which is subject to adjustment for retirement prior to the normal retirement age and the participant’s vesting percentage. The benefits under the SERP are reduced for a participant that has not reached age 62 with 10 years of service or age 55 with 25 years of service with a percentage reduction up to the normal retirement age.

Benefits under the SERP are based on the lump sum present value but may be paid over the life of the covered executive officer or 10-year annuity, as elected by the covered executive officer upon commencement of participation in the SERP. None of the benefits earned pursuant to the SERP are attributable to services provided prior to the effective date of the plan. For purposes of the measurement of the benefit obligation as of December 31, 2017, Kforce has assumed that all participants will elect to take the lump sum present value option based on historical trends.

Actuarial Assumptions

Due to the SERP being unfunded as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, it is not necessary for Kforce to determine the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. The following table presents the weighted average actuarial assumptions used to determine the actuarial present value of projected benefit obligations at:



	DECEMBER 31,
	2017		2016
Discount rate	3.25	%	4.00	%
Rate of future compensation increase	2.90	%	3.60	%

The following table presents the weighted average actuarial assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the years ended:



	DECEMBER 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Discount rate	4.00	%	4.00	%	3.75	%
Rate of future compensation increase	3.60	%	4.00	%	4.00	%

The discount rate was determined using the Moody’s Aa long-term corporate bond yield as of the measurement date with a maturity commensurate with the expected payout of the SERP obligation. This rate is also compared against the Citigroup Pension Discount Curve and Liability Index to ensure the rate used is reasonable and may be adjusted accordingly. This index is widely used by companies throughout the U.S. and is considered to be one of the preferred standards for establishing a discount rate.

The assumed rate of future compensation increases is based on a combination of factors, including the historical compensation increases for its covered executive officers and future target compensation levels for its covered executive officers taking into account the covered executive officers’ assumed retirement date.

The periodic benefit cost is based on actuarial assumptions that are reviewed on an annual basis; however, Kforce monitors these assumptions on a periodic basis to ensure that they accurately reflect current expectations of the cost of providing retirement benefits.

Net Periodic Benefit Cost

The following table presents the components of net periodic benefit cost for the years ended (in thousands):



	DECEMBER 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Service cost	$	319	$	1,310	$	1,323
Interest cost	537		453		383
Net periodic benefit cost	$	856	$	1,763	$	1,706

Changes in Benefit Obligation

The following table presents the changes in the projected benefit obligation for the years ended (in thousands):



	DECEMBER 31,
	2017		2016
Projected benefit obligation, beginning	$	13,436	$	11,337
Service cost	319		1,310
Interest cost	537		453
Actuarial experience and changes in actuarial assumptions	117		336
Projected benefit obligation, ending	$	14,409	$	13,436

There were no payments made under the SERP during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The projected benefit obligation is recorded in Other long-term liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The accumulated benefit obligation is the actuarial present value of all benefits attributed to past service, excluding future salary increases. The accumulated benefit obligation as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 was $14.3 million and $12.7 million, respectively.

Contributions

There is no requirement for Kforce to fund the SERP and, as a result, no contributions have been made to the SERP through the year ended December 31, 2017. Kforce does not currently anticipate funding the SERP during the year ending December 31, 2018.

Estimated Future Benefit Payments

Undiscounted benefit payments by the SERP, which reflect the anticipated future service of participants, expected to be paid are as follows (in thousands):



	PROJECTED ANNUAL BENEFIT PAYMENTS
2018	$	—
2019	—
2020	—
2021	12,788
2022	—
2023-2027	—
Thereafter	4,282