(4)	EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

U.S. Defined Benefit Pension Plan

The company has a defined benefit pension plan (pension plan) that covers certain U.S. citizen employees and other employees who are permanent residents of the United States. Effective April 1, 1996, the pension plan was closed to new participation. In December 2009, the Board of Directors amended the pension plan to discontinue the accrual of benefits once the plan was frozen on December 31, 2010. This change did not affect benefits earned by participants prior to January 1, 2011. The pension plan is currently adequately funded and the company did not contribute to the pension plan during the quarters and nine months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, and does not expect to contribute to the pension plan during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016.

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan

The company also maintains a non-contributory, defined benefit supplemental executive retirement plan (supplemental plan) that provides pension benefits to certain employees in excess of those allowed under the company’s tax-qualified pension plan. A Rabbi Trust has been established for the benefit of participants in the supplemental plan. The Rabbi Trust assets, which are invested in a variety of marketable securities (but not the company’s stock), are recorded at fair value with unrealized gains or losses included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). Effective March 4, 2010, the supplemental plan was closed to new participation. The supplemental plan is a non-qualified plan and, as such, the company is not required to make contributions to the supplemental plan. The company did not contribute to the supplemental plan during the quarters and nine months ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, and does not expect to contribute to the supplemental plan during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016.

Investments held in a Rabbi Trust for the benefit of participants in the supplemental plan are included in other assets at fair value. The following table summarizes the carrying value of the trust assets, including unrealized gains or losses at December 31, 2015 and March 31, 2015:

	December 31,		March 31,
(In thousands)	2015		2015
Investments held in Rabbi Trust	$	9,072		9,915
Unrealized gains (losses) in fair value of trust assets		233		235
Obligations under the supplemental plan		27,143		25,510

To the extent that trust assets are liquidated to fund benefit payments, gains or losses, if any, will be recognized at that time. The company’s obligations under the supplemental plan are included in ‘accrued expenses’ and ‘other liabilities and deferred credits’ on the consolidated balance sheet.

Postretirement Benefit Plan

Qualified retired employees currently are covered by a plan which provides limited health care and life insurance benefits. Costs of the plan are based on actuarially determined amounts and are accrued over the period from the date of hire to the full eligibility date of employees who are expected to qualify for these benefits. This plan is funded through payments by the company as benefits are required.

Effective November 20, 2015, the company eliminated its post-65 medical coverage for all current and future retirees effective January 1, 2017. The plan amendment resulted in an additional estimated net periodic postretirement benefit of $0.6 million during the quarter and nine-month period ended December 31, 2015. The medical coverage remains unchanged for participants under age 65.

Net Periodic Benefit Costs

The net periodic benefit cost for the company’s U.S. defined benefit pension plan and supplemental plan (referred to collectively as “Pension Benefits”) and the postretirement health care and life insurance plan (referred to collectively as “Other Benefits”) is comprised of the following components:

	Quarter Ended						Nine Months Ended
	December 31,						December 31,
(In thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014
Pension Benefits:
Service cost	$	234			206			702			618
Interest cost		935			968			2,805			2,904
Expected return on plan assets		(530	)		(685	)		(1,590	)		(2,055	)
Amortization of prior service cost		9			12			27			36
Recognized actuarial loss		567			247			1,701			741
Net periodic benefit cost	$	1,215			748			3,645			2,244
Other Benefits:
Service cost	$	41			68			191			204
Interest cost		103			226			524			678
Amortization of prior service cost		(899	)		(508	)		(1,920	)		(1,524	)
Recognized actuarial benefit		(281	)		(325	)		(770	)		(975	)
Net periodic benefit cost	$	(1,036	)		(539	)		(1,975	)		(1,617	)

Other Plans

Effective December 1, 2015, the company amended its existing multinational savings plan to a self-directed multinational defined contribution retirement plan (multinational retirement plan). The company subsequently removed approximately
$6.4 million of plan assets and liabilities from the other assets and other liabilities and deferred credits section of the condensed consolidated balance sheets. Non-U.S. citizen shore-based and certain offshore employees working outside their respective country of origin are eligible to participate in the multinational retirement plan provided the employees are not enrolled in any home country pension or retirement program. Participants of the multinational retirement plan may contribute 1% to 50% of their base salary. The company matches, in cash, 50% of the first 6% of eligible compensation deferred by the employee which vests over five years. The company does not anticipate its contribution expense for the multinational retirement plan will increase due to the amendment.