Note 13 - Retirement Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Notes to Financial Statements

Retirement Benefits [Text Block]

13. Retirement Benefit Plans

Substantially all U.S. employees are covered by various retirement benefit plans, including defined contribution savings plans and postretirement medical plans. Retirement benefits for eligible employees in foreign locations are funded principally through defined benefit plans, annuity or government programs. The total cost of benefits for our plans was $14.8 million, $12.3 million and $13.7 million in 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

We had a qualified, funded defined benefit retirement plan (the “U.S. Pension Plan”) covering certain current and retired employees in the U.S. During 2015, the plan was amended to freeze benefits for all participants effective January 31, 2017. On February 15, 2017, the Board of Directors approved the termination of the U.S. Pension Plan, effective May 15, 2017. Participants who elected an immediate lump sum distribution were paid out in December 2017. Assets for participants who elected or are currently receiving annuity payments and those who have elected to defer their benefits were transferred to the annuity company, Pacific Life, in December 2017. Excess assets were transferred from the Tennant Company Pension Trust to the Tennant Company Retirement Savings Plan to deliver future discretionary benefits to plan participants. During 2020, all remaining excess assets were utilized, and none remained outstanding as of December 31, 2020.

We have a U.S. postretirement medical benefit plan (the “U.S. Retiree Plan”) to provide certain healthcare benefits for U.S. employees hired before January 1, 1999. Eligibility for those benefits is based upon a combination of years of service with us and age upon retirement.

Our defined contribution savings plan (“401(k) plan”) covers substantially all U.S. employees. Under this plan, we match up to 3% of the employee’s annual compensation in cash to be invested per their election. We also make a profit sharing contribution to the 401(k) plan for employees with more than one year of service in accordance with our Profit Sharing Plan. This contribution is based upon our financial performance and can be funded in the form of Tennant stock, cash or a combination of both. Expenses for the 401(k) plan were $8.7 million, $7.2 million and $9.8 million during 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

We have a U.S. nonqualified supplemental benefit plan (the “U.S. Nonqualified Plan”) to provide additional retirement benefits for certain employees whose benefits under our 401(k) plan or U.S. Pension Plan are limited by either the Employee Retirement Income Security Act or the Internal Revenue Code.

We also have defined benefit pension plans in the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy (the “U.K. Pension Plan”, the “German Pension Plan” and the "Italian Pension Plan"). The U.K. Pension Plan, German Pension Plan and Italian Pension Plan cover certain current and retired employees and all plans are closed to new participants. In December 2018, the U.K. Pension Plan was amended to close all future accrual of benefits to existing active members, resulting in a curtailment gain of $0.1 million relating to past service benefits. The Italian Plan is an employee termination indemnity mandated by Italian law to all employees employed prior to 2008. Benefits are paid out when employees covered under the plan are terminated for any reason. Due to changes in Italian law, such termination indemnities are no longer available to new participants. Prior year Non-U.S. Pension Benefits disclosures have been updated to include the Italian Pension Plan.

We expect to contribute approximately $0.1 million to our U.S. Nonqualified Plan and $0.7 million to our U.S. Retiree Plan in 2022. We expect contributions to our U.K. Pension Plan, German Pension Plan and Italian Pension Plans to be less than $0.1 million in 2022.

Weighted-average asset allocations by asset category of the U.K. Pension Plan as of December 31, 2021 is as follows:

			Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets		Significant Observable Inputs		Significant Unobservable Inputs
Asset category	Fair Value		(Level 1)		(Level 2)		(Level 3)
Investment account held by pension plan(a)	$	12.9	$	—	$	—	$	12.9
Total	$	12.9	$	—	$	—	$	12.9

^(a) This category is comprised of investments in insurance contracts.

Weighted-average asset allocations by asset category of the U.K. Pension Plan as of December 31, 2020 is as follows:

			Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets		Significant Observable Inputs		Significant Unobservable Inputs
Asset category	Fair Value		(Level 1)		(Level 2)		(Level 3)
Investment account held by pension plan(a)	$	13.3		—		—	$	13.3
Total	$	13.3	$	—	$	—	$	13.3

^(a) This category is comprised of investments in insurance contracts.

Estimates of the fair value of the U.K. Pension Plan and the Tennant Company Retirement Savings Plan assets are based on the framework established in the accounting guidance for fair value measurements. A brief description of the three levels can be found in Note 12. The Investment Account held by the U.K. Pension Plan invests in insurance contracts for purposes of funding the U.K. Pension Plan and is classified as Level 3. The fair value of the Investment Account is the cash surrender values as determined by the provider which are the amounts the plan would receive if the contracts were cashed out at year-end. The underlying assets held by these contracts are primarily invested in assets traded in active markets.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the Level 3 investments of our U.K. Pension Plan during the years ended December 31 is as follows:

	2021			2020
Fair value at beginning of year	$	13.3		$	12.2
Purchases, sales, issuances and settlements, net		0.2			0.1
Net (loss) gain		(0.4	)		0.6
Foreign currency		(0.2	)		0.4
Fair value at end of year	$	12.9		$	13.3

The primary objective of our U.K. Pension Plan is to meet retirement income commitments to plan participants at a reasonable cost to us and to maintain a sound actuarially funded status. This objective is accomplished through growth of capital and safety of funds invested. Assets are invested in securities to achieve growth of capital over inflation through appreciation and accumulation and reinvestment of dividend and interest income. Investments are diversified to control risk. The U.K. Pension Plan is invested in insurance contracts with underlying investments primarily in equity and fixed income securities. Our German Pension Plan is unfunded, which is customary in that country.

Weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations as of December 31 are as follows:

							Non-U.S.						Postretirement
	U.S. Nonqualified Plan						Pension Benefits						Medical Benefits
	2021			2020			2021			2020			2021			2020
Discount rate		2.54	%		2.06	%		1.59	%		1.05	%		2.53	%		2.07	%
Rate of compensation increase		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%

Weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit costs as of December 31 are as follows:

										Non-U.S.									Postretirement
	U.S. Nonqualified Plan									Pension Benefits									Medical Benefits
	2021			2020			2019			2021			2020			2019			2021			2020			2019
Discount rate		2.06	%		3.01	%		3.95	%		1.05	%		1.42	%		1.92	%		2.07	%		3.06	%		3.95	%
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets		—	%		—	%		—	%		2.70	%		3.30	%		3.80	%		—	%		—	%		—	%
Rate of compensation increase		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%

The discount rate is used to discount future benefit obligations back to today’s dollars. Our discount rates were determined based on high-quality fixed income investments. The resulting discount rates are consistent with the duration of plan liabilities. The Mercer Above Mean Yield Curve for high-quality corporate bonds is used in determining the discount rate for the U.S. Nonqualified Plan in 2021. The Mercer Yield Curve is used in determining the discount rate for the Non-U.S. Plans in 2021. Before 2019, the FTSE (formerly known as Citigroup) Above Median Spot rates for high-quality corporate bonds were used in determining the discount rate for the U.S. Plans. Before 2021, the iBoxx € Corporates AA 7-10 and iBoxx € Corporates AA 10+ Benchmark was used to determine the discount rate for the Italian Pension Plan. The expected return on assets assumption on the investment portfolios for the pension plans is based on the long-term expected returns for the investment mix of assets currently in the portfolio. Management uses historic return trends of the asset portfolio combined with recent market conditions to estimate the future rate of return.

The accumulated benefit obligations as of December 31 for all defined benefit plans are as follows:

	2021		2020
U.S. Nonqualified Plan	$	1.1	$	1.2
U.K. Pension Plan		11.4		12.2
German Pension Plan		1.0		1.2
Italian Pension Plan		3.7		4.2

Information for our plans with an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets as of December 31 is as follows:

	2021		2020
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	5.8	$	6.6
Fair value of plan assets		—		—

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the U.S. Nonqualified, the German Pension and the Italian Pension Plans had an accumulated benefit obligation in excess of plan assets.

Information for our plans with a projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets as of December 31 is as follows:

	2021		2020
Projected benefit obligation	$	5.8	$	6.6
Fair value of plan assets		—		—

As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the U.S. Nonqualified, the German Pension and the Italian Pension Plans had a projected benefit obligation in excess of plan assets.

Assumed healthcare cost trend rates as of December 31 are as follows:

	2021			2020
Healthcare cost trend rate assumption for the next year Pre-65		5.40	%		5.90	%
Healthcare cost trend rate assumption for the next year Post-65		5.90	%		6.20	%
Rate to which the cost trend rate is assumed to decline (the ultimate trend rate)		4.00	%		4.50	%
Year that the rate reaches the ultimate trend rate	2045			2037

Summaries related to changes in benefit obligations and plan assets and to the funded status of our defined benefit and postretirement medical benefit plans are as follows:

							Non-U.S.						Postretirement
	U.S. Nonqualified Plan						Pension Benefits						Medical Benefits
	2021			2020			2021			2020			2021			2020
Change in benefit obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	1.2		$	1.3		$	17.6		$	15.7		$	7.3		$	7.8
Service cost		—			—			—			—			0.1			0.1
Interest cost		0.1			—			0.2			0.2			0.1			0.2
Actuarial loss (gain)		—			—			(0.6	)		1.7			0.6			(0.3	)
Foreign exchange		—			—			(0.4	)		0.8			—			—
Settlement		—			—			(0.3	)		—			—			—
Benefits paid		(0.2	)		(0.1	)		(0.3	)		(0.8	)		(1.1	)		(0.5	)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	1.1		$	1.2		$	16.2		$	17.6		$	7.0		$	7.3
Change in fair value of plan assets and net accrued liabilities:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	—		$	—		$	13.3		$	12.2		$	—		$	—
Actual return on plan assets		—			—			(0.4	)		0.6			—			—
Employer contributions		0.1			0.1			0.8			0.9			1.0			0.5
Foreign exchange		—			—			(0.2	)		0.4			—			—
Settlement		—			—			(0.3	)		—			—			—
Benefits paid		(0.1	)		(0.1	)		(0.3	)		(0.8	)		(1.0	)		(0.5	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year		—			—			12.9			13.3			—			—
Funded status at end of year	$	(1.1	)	$	(1.2	)	$	(3.3	)	$	(4.3	)	$	(7.0	)	$	(7.3	)
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets consist of:
Noncurrent other assets	$	—		$	—		$	1.4		$	1.1		$	—		$	—
Current liabilities		(0.1	)		(0.1	)		(0.2	)		—			(0.7	)		(0.7	)
Long-term liabilities		(1.0	)		(1.1	)		(4.5	)		(5.4	)		(6.3	)		(6.6	)
Net accrued liability	$	(1.1	)	$	(1.2	)	$	(3.3	)	$	(4.3	)	$	(7.0	)	$	(7.3	)
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss consist of:
Prior service cost	$	—		$	—		$	(0.2	)	$	(0.2	)	$	—		$	—
Net actuarial (loss) gain		(0.9	)		(0.9	)		(2.1	)		(2.0	)		0.2			0.8
Accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	$	(0.9	)	$	(0.9	)	$	(2.3	)	$	(2.2	)	$	0.2		$	0.8

The components of the net periodic benefit cost (credit) for the three years ended December 31 were as follows:

							Non-U.S.									Postretirement
	U.S. Nonqualified Plan						Pension Benefits									Medical Benefits
	2021		2020		2019		2021			2020			2019			2021		2020		2019
Service cost	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	0.1	$	0.1	$	—
Interest cost		0.1		—		0.1		0.2			0.2			0.3			0.1		0.2		0.3
Expected return on plan assets		—		—		—		(0.4	)		(0.3	)		(0.4	)		—		—		—
Amortization of net actuarial loss (gain)		—		0.1		—		0.1			—			—			—		—		(0.1	)
Net periodic benefit cost (credit)	$	0.1	$	0.1	$	0.1	$	(0.1	)	$	(0.1	)	$	(0.1	)	$	0.2	$	0.3	$	0.2

The changes in accumulated other comprehensive loss for the three years ended December 31 were as follows:

								Non-U.S.							Postretirement
	U.S. Nonqualified Plan							Pension Benefits							Medical Benefits
	2021		2020			2019		2021			2020		2019		2021		2020			2019
Prior service cost	$	—	$	—		$	—	$	—		$	0.1	$	—	$	—	$	—		$	—
Net actuarial loss (gain)		—		—			0.1		0.2			1.6		0.4		0.6		(0.3	)		(0.1	)
Amortization of net actuarial (loss) gain		—		(0.1	)		—		(0.1	)		—		—		—		—			0.1
Total recognized in other comprehensive (income) loss	$	—	$	(0.1	)	$	0.1	$	0.1		$	1.7	$	0.4	$	0.6	$	(0.3	)	$	—
Total recognized in net benefit cost (credit) and other comprehensive loss (income)	$	0.1	$	—		$	0.2	$	—		$	1.6	$	0.3	$	0.8	$	—		$	0.2

The following benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, are expected to be paid:

	U.S.		Non-U.S.		Postretirement
	Nonqualified Plan		Pension Benefits		Medical Benefits
2022	$	0.1	$	0.6	$	0.7
2023		0.1		0.6		0.7
2024		0.1		0.6		0.7
2025		0.1		0.6		0.6
2026		0.1		0.6		0.6
2027 to 2030		0.4		3.5		2.5
Total	$	0.9	$	6.5	$	5.8