EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Pension Plans

The Charles River Laboratories, Inc. Pension Plan (CRL Pension Plan) is a qualified, non-contributory defined benefit plan covering certain U.S. employees. Effective 2002, the plan was amended to exclude new participants from joining and in 2008 the accrual of benefits was frozen.

The Charles River Pension Plan is a defined contribution and defined benefit pension plan covering certain U.K. employees. Benefits are based on participants’ final pensionable salary and years of service. Participants’ rights vest immediately. Effective December 31, 2002, the plan was amended to exclude new participants from joining the defined benefit section of the plan and a defined contribution section was established for new entrants. Contributions under the defined contribution plan are determined as a percentage of gross salary. In the fourth quarter of 2015, the Charles River Pension Plan was amended such that the members of the defined benefit section of the plan ceased to accrue additional benefits; however, their benefits continue to be adjusted for changes in their final pensionable salary or a specified inflation index, as applicable.

In addition, the Company has several defined benefit plans in certain other countries in which it maintains an operating presence, including Japan, Canada, France and the Netherlands.

Charles River Laboratories Deferred Compensation Plan and Executive Supplemental Life Insurance Retirement Plan

The Company maintains a non-qualified deferred compensation plan, known as the Charles River Laboratories Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP), which allows a select group of eligible employees to defer a portion of their compensation. At the present time, no contributions are credited to the DCP, except as set forth below. Participants must specify the distribution date for deferred amounts at the time of deferral, in accordance with applicable IRS regulations. Generally, amounts may be paid in lump sum or installments upon retirement or termination of employment, or later if the employee terminates employment after age 55 and before age 65. Amounts may also be distributed during employment, subject to a minimum deferral requirement of three years.

The Company provides certain active employees an annual contribution into their DCP account of 10% of the employee’s base salary plus the lesser of their target annual bonus or actual annual bonus.

In addition to the DCP, certain officers and key employees also participate, or in the past participated, in the Company’s Executive Supplemental Life Insurance Retirement Plan (ESLIRP), which is a non-funded, non-qualified arrangement. Annual benefits under this plan will equal a percentage of the highest five consecutive years of compensation, offset by amounts payable under the CRL Pension Plan and Social Security. In connection with the establishment of the DCP, certain active ESLIRP participants, who agreed to convert their accrued ESLIRP benefit to a comparable deferred compensation benefit, discontinued their direct participation in the ESLIRP. Instead, the present values of the accrued benefits of ESLIRP participants were credited to their DCP accounts, and future accruals are converted to present values and credited to their DCP accounts annually.

The costs associated with these plans, including the ESLIRP, for fiscal years 2016, 2015 and 2014 totaled $2.2 million, $2.6 million and $3.3 million, respectively.

The Company has invested in several corporate-owned key-person life insurance policies with the intention of using these investments to fund the ESLIRP and the DCP. Participants have no interest in any such investments. As of December 31, 2016 and December 26, 2015, the cash surrender value of these life insurance policies were $29.5 million and $27.6 million, respectively.

The following table provides a reconciliation of benefit obligations and plan assets of the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans:



	December 31, 2016			December 26, 2015

	(in thousands)
Change in projected benefit obligations:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	345,220		$	359,130
Service cost	2,453			4,293
Interest cost	12,046			12,974
Benefit payments	(13,383		)	(8,191		)
Curtailment	(279		)	—
Settlements	(5,499		)	—
Plan amendments	188			—
Transfer in from acquisition	5,271			—
Actuarial loss (gain)	71,006			(10,362		)
Administrative expenses paid	(605		)	(411		)
Effect of foreign exchange	(36,476		)	(12,213		)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	379,942		$	345,220
Change in fair value of plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	275,480		$	281,290
Actual return on plan assets	23,388			6,263
Employer contributions	10,551			6,762
Settlements	(5,499		)	—
Transfer in from acquisition	508			—
Benefit payments	(13,383		)	(8,191		)
Administrative expenses paid	(605		)	(411		)
Effect of foreign exchange	(33,537		)	(10,233		)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	256,903		$	275,480

Net balance sheet liability	$	123,039		$	69,740

Amounts recognized in balance sheet:
Noncurrent assets	$	—		$	261
Current liabilities	1,120			6,133
Noncurrent liabilities	121,919			63,868

Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss related to the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans are as follows:



	Fiscal Year
	2016			2015

	(in thousands)
Net actuarial loss	$	123,743		$	73,412
Net prior service cost (credit)	(3,300		)	(4,584		)
Net amount recognized	$	120,443		$	68,828

The accumulated benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets for the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans with accumulated benefit obligations in excess of plan assets are as follows:



	December 31, 2016		December 26, 2015

	(in thousands)
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	346,122	$	306,433
Fair value of plan assets	242,172		253,225

The projected benefit obligation and fair value of plan assets for the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans with projected benefit obligations in excess of plan assets are as follows:



	December 31, 2016		December 26, 2015

	(in thousands)
Projected benefit obligation	$	379,942	$	336,155
Fair value of plan assets	256,903		266,154

The amounts in accumulated other comprehensive income expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost over the next fiscal year are as follows:



	December 31, 2016
	(in thousands)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	$	3,867
Amortization of net prior service credit	(475		)

Components of net periodic benefit cost for the Company’s pension, DCP and ESLIRP plans are as follows:



	Fiscal Year
	2016			2015			2014

	(in thousands)
Service cost	$	2,453		$	4,293		$	4,155
Interest cost	12,046			12,974			13,831
Expected return on plan assets	(14,164		)	(16,987		)	(17,444		)
Amortization of prior service cost (credit)	(292		)	(581		)	1,211
Amortization of net loss (gain)	2,003			3,198			23
Curtailment	(279		)	—			—
Settlements	788			—			—
Net periodic cost (benefit)	$	2,555		$	2,897		$	1,776

Assumptions

Weighted-average assumptions used to determine projected benefit obligations are as follows:



	December 31, 2016		December 26, 2015
Discount rate	3.01	%	3.89	%
Rate of compensation increase	3.25	%	3.17	%

Weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost are as follows:



	December 31, 2016		December 26, 2015		December 27, 2014
Discount rate	3.89	%	3.75	%	4.44	%
Expected long-term return on plan assets	5.83	%	6.24	%	6.41	%
Rate of compensation increase	3.17	%	3.18	%	3.36	%

A 0.5% decrease in the expected rate of return would increase annual pension expense by $1.3 million.

Plan assets

The Company invests its pension assets with the objective of achieving a total long-term rate of return sufficient to fund future pension obligations and to minimize future pension contributions. The Company is willing to tolerate a commensurate level of risk to achieve this objective. The Company controls its risk by maintaining a diversified portfolio of assets classes. Plan assets did not include any of the Company’s common stock as of December 31, 2016 or December 26, 2015. The weighted-average target asset allocations are approximately 45.0% to equity securities, approximately 31.5% to fixed income securities and approximately 23.5% to other securities.

The fair value of the Company’s pension plan assets by asset category are as follows:



	December 31, 2016								December 26, 2015
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total

	(in thousands)
Cash	$	108	$	—	$	—	$	108	$	92	$	—	$	—	$	92
Equity securities⁽¹⁾	63,348		6,252		—		69,600		65,890		5,941		—		71,831
Debt securities⁽²⁾	59,294		3,269		—		62,563		68,489		2,822		—		71,311
Mutual funds⁽³⁾	64,698		56,596		—		121,294		63,689		65,725		—		129,414
Other	1,318		586		1,434		3,338		1,021		49		1,762		2,832
Total	$	188,766	$	66,703	$	1,434	$	256,903	$	199,181	$	74,537	$	1,762	$	275,480
⁽¹⁾ This category comprises equity securities held by non-U.S. pension plans valued at the quoted closing price, and translated into U.S. dollars using a foreign currency exchange rate at year end.
⁽²⁾ This category comprises debt securities held by non-U.S. pension plans valued at the quoted closing price, and translated into U.S. dollars using a foreign currency exchange rate at year end.
⁽³⁾ This category comprises mutual funds valued at the net asset value of shares held at year end.

The activity within the Level 3 pension plan assets was non-significant during the periods presented.

During fiscal year 2016, the Company contributed $4.0 million to the pension plans and expects to contribute $4.0 million to its pension plans in fiscal year 2017.

Expected benefit payments are estimated using the same assumptions used in determining the Company’s benefit obligation as of December 31, 2016. Benefit payments will depend on future employment and compensation levels, among other factors, and changes in any of these factors could significantly affect these estimated future benefit payments. Estimated future benefit payments during the next five years and in the aggregate for fiscal years thereafter, are as follows:



Fiscal Year	Pension Plans
	(in thousands)
2017	$	8,610
2018	8,818
2019	9,682
2020	10,014
2021	30,717
Thereafter	57,705

Post-Retirement Health and Life Insurance Plans

The Company’s Canadian location offers post-retirement life insurance benefits to its employees and post-retirement medical and dental insurance coverage to certain executives. The plan is non-contributory and unfunded. As of December 31, 2016 and December 26, 2015, the accumulated benefit obligation related to the plan was $1.2 million and $0.9 million, respectively. The amounts included in other accumulated comprehensive income as well as expenses related to the plan were non-significant for fiscal years 2016, 2015, and 2014.

Charles River Laboratories Employee Savings Plan

The Charles River Laboratories Employee Savings Plan is a defined contribution plan in the form of a qualified 401(k) plan in which substantially all U.S. employees are eligible to participate upon employment. The plan contains a provision whereby the Company matches a percentage of employee contributions. During fiscal years 2016, 2015 and 2014, the costs associated with this defined contribution plan totaled $6.2 million, $5.3 million and $4.9 million, respectively.