NOTE 11 – EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Healthcare

We participate in multiple healthcare plans, of which our primary plan is partially self-funded with an insurance company paying benefits in excess of stop loss limits per individual. Our healthcare benefit expense (net of employee contributions) was approximately $17.4 million, $15.2 million and $11.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively, for all plans. An accrual for estimated healthcare claims incurred but not reported (“IBNR”) is included within accrued compensation on the Consolidated Balance Sheets and was $1.8 million and $1.7 million as of December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively.

Workers’ Compensation

We participate in multiple workers’ compensation plans. Under these plans, for a significant portion of our business, we use a high deductible program to cover losses above the deductible amount on a per claim basis. We accrue for the estimated losses occurring from both asserted and unasserted claims. Workers’ compensation liability for premiums is included in other current liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Insurance claims and reserves include accruals of estimated settlements for known claims, as well as accruals of actuarial estimates of IBNR claims. In estimating these reserves, historical loss experience and judgments about the expected levels of costs per claim are considered. These claims are accounted for based on actuarial estimates of the undiscounted claims, including IBNR. We believe the use of actuarial methods to account for these liabilities provides a consistent and effective way to measure these highly judgmental accruals.

Workers’ compensation expense totaled $13.5 million, $12.1 million and $12.0 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and is included in cost of sales on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income. Workers’ compensation known claims and IBNR reserves included on the Consolidated Balance Sheets were as follows (in thousands):


	As of December 31,
	2017		2016
Included in other current liabilities	$	5,899	$	4,595
Included in other long-term liabilities		8,721		7,052

	$	14,620	$	11,647

We also had an insurance receivable for claims that exceeded the stop loss limit included on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. This receivable offsets an equal liability included within the reserve amounts noted above and was as follows (in thousands):


	As of December 31,
	2017		2016
Included in other non-current assets	$	1,826	$	1,249

Profit-Sharing Plans

We also participate in various profit-sharing and 401(k) plans. Certain plans provide that eligible employees can defer a portion of their wages into the trust, subject to current Internal Revenue Code rules and limitations. We provide a matching contribution of wages deferred by employees and can also make discretionary contributions to each plan. Certain plans allow for discretionary employer contributions only. These plans cover substantially all our eligible employees. During the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we recognized 401(k) plan expenses of $1.6 million, $1.3 million and $0.8 million, respectively, which is included in administrative expenses on the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income.

Share-Based Compensation

Directors

We periodically grant shares of restricted stock to members of our board of directors. Accordingly, we record compensation expense within administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income at the time of the grant.

In 2017, 2016 and 2015, we granted approximately six thousand, nine thousand and 13 thousand shares of restricted stock, respectively, at a price of $50.50, $34.23 and $22.74 per share, respectively (which represents market price on the grant dates), to non-employee members of our board of directors. Accordingly, for each of the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we recorded $0.3 million in compensation expense related to these grants within administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income at the time of grant. These shares vested on the grant date since there is no service period associated with these awards.

The weighted-average grant date fair value is the same as the issue price for all shares.

Employees – Common Stock Awards

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, we granted approximately 0.1 million shares of restricted stock which vest in three equal installments (rounded to the nearest whole share) on each of April 20, 2018, 2019 and 2020 to certain employees. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2016, we granted approximately 0.1 million shares of restricted stock which vest in three equal installments (rounded to the nearest whole share) on each of April 20, 2017, 2018 and 2019 to certain employees.

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, our employees surrendered approximately 11 thousand shares of our common stock to satisfy tax withholding obligations arising in connection with the vesting of such common stock awards previously issued under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan. We recorded $2.7 million and $1.6 million in compensation expense related to these grants within administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. We recognized excess tax benefits within income tax provision on the Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income of approximately $0.6 million and $0.3 million for the years ended December 31 2017 and 2016, respectively.

As of December 31, 2017, there was $5.5 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to these nonvested common stock awards. This expense is subject to future adjustments for forfeitures and is expected to be recognized on a straight-line basis over the remaining weighted-average period of 2.0 years. Shares forfeited are returned as treasury shares and available for future issuances. See the table below for changes in shares and related weighted average fair market value per share.

Employees – Performance-Based Stock Awards

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, we established, and our Board of Directors approved, performance-based targets in connection with common stock awards to be issued to certain officers in 2018 contingent upon achievement of these targets. We recorded $0.9 million in compensation expense associated with these performance-based awards.

As of December 31, 2017, there was $1.7 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to nonvested performance-based common stock awards. This expense is subject to future adjustments for forfeitures and is expected to be recognized over the remaining weighted-average period of 1.9 years using the graded-vesting method. See the table below for changes in shares and related weighted average fair market value per share.

In addition, during the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, we established, and our Board of Directors approved, performance-based restricted stock awards to be issued to certain employees between 2018 and 2022 contingent upon achievement of certain performance targets. These awards will be accounted for as liability-based awards since they represent a predominantly-fixed monetary amount that will be settled with a variable number of common shares and as such are included in other long-term liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. We recorded $0.1 million in compensation expense associated with these performance-based awards. The unrecognized compensation expense associated with the liability-based awards is subject to fair value adjustment each reporting period, and is expected to be recognized on a straight-line basis over the remaining vesting period of 4 years.

Employees – Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2017, we established, and our Board of Directors approved, performance-based restricted stock units in connection with common stock awards to be issued to certain employees in 2018 contingent upon achievement of a performance target. These units will be accounted for as equity-based awards that will be settled with a fixed number of common shares. We recorded $2.6 million in compensation expense associated with these performance-based units during the twelve months ended December 31, 2017.

As of December 31, 2017, there was $1.1 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to nonvested performance-based common stock units. This expense is subject to future adjustments for forfeitures and is expected to be recognized on a straight-line basis over the remaining weighted-average period of 0.3 years. See the table below for changes in shares and related weighted average fair market value per share.

Share-Based Compensation Summary

Amounts for each category of equity-based award for employees as of December 31, 2017 and changes during the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 were as follows:


	Common Stock Awards					Performance-Based Stock Awards				Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units
	Awards			Weighted Average Fair Market Value Per Share		Awards		Weighted Average Fair Market Value Per Share		Units			Weighted Average Fair Market Value Per Share
Nonvested awards/units at December 31, 2016		161,174		$	26.36		—	$	—		—		$	—
Granted		101,241			52.00		77,254		41.00		74,818			52.16
Vested		(58,302	)		26.43		—		—		—			—
Forfeited/Cancelled		(1,782	)		35.07		—		—		(2,818	)		52.00

Nonvested awards/units at December 31, 2017		202,331		$	39.09		77,254	$	41.00		72,000		$	52.16

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, we recorded the following stock compensation expense, by income statement category (in thousands):


	2017		2016
Cost of sales	$	965	$	—
Selling		571		—
Administrative		5,055		1,894

	$	6,591	$	1,894

Administrative stock compensation expense includes all stock compensation earned by our administrative personnel, while cost of sales and selling stock compensation represents all stock compensation earned by our installation and sales employees, respectively.

As of December 31, 2017, approximately 2.6 million of the 3.0 million shares of common stock authorized for issuance were available for issuance under the 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan.