NOTE 10 – EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Healthcare

Our healthcare benefit expense (net of employee contributions) for all plans was approximately $4.5 million and $4.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $13.3 million and $12.4 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. An accrual for estimated healthcare claims incurred but not reported (“IBNR”) is included within accrued compensation on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and was $2.1 million and $1.9 million as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.

Workers’ Compensation

Workers’ compensation expense totaled $4.4 million and $3.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and $9.7 million and $9.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. Workers’ compensation known claims and IBNR reserves included on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets were as follows (in thousands):


	September 30,		December 31,
	2018		2017
Included in other current liabilities	$	5,276	$	5,899
Included in other long-term liabilities		10,190		8,721

	$	15,466	$	14,620

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


	September 30,		December 31,
	2018		2017
Included in other non-current assets	$	1,894	$	1,826

Retirement Plans

We participate in multiple 401(k) plans, whereby 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. We recognized 401(k) plan expenses of $0.3 million and $1.2 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and $0.4 million and $1.3 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively. These expenses are included in administrative expenses on the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income.

Share-Based Compensation

Common Stock Awards

During the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we granted approximately five thousand and six thousand shares of our common stock on June 1, respectively, under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan to non-employee members of our Board of Directors. The stock issued to the Board of Directors on June 1, 2017 vested immediately, whereas the stock issued on June 1, 2018 will vest over a one year service term. Accordingly, for the nine months ended September 30, 2017, we recorded approximately $0.3 million in compensation expense within administrative expenses on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income at the time of the grant, while $25 thousand and $0.1 million of compensation expense was recorded during the three and nine months ending September 30, 2018.

In addition, during each of the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we granted approximately 0.1 million shares of our common stock under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan to our employees. The shares granted during each of the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017 vest in three equal installments (rounded to the nearest whole share) annually on April 20^th through 2021.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, our employees surrendered approximately forty-one thousand shares and ten thousand shares, respectively, of our common stock to satisfy tax withholding obligations arising in connection with the vesting of common stock awards issued under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan. Share-based compensation expense associated with non-performance-based awards issued to employees was $1.0 million and $2.9 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, and $0.8 million and $1.9 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively. We recognized excess tax benefits of $0.5 million and $0.6 million within the income tax provision in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Income for the nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, respectively. We did not recognize any such excess tax benefits in the three months ended September 30, 2018 or 2017.

As of September 30, 2018, we had $6.1 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to these nonvested common stock awards issued to the Board of Directors and our employees. 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 1.9 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 nine months ended September 30, 2018, we granted under our 2014 Omnibus Incentive Plan approximately 0.1 million shares of our common stock to certain officers, which vest in two equal installments on each of April 20, 2019 and April 20, 2020. These shares were issued in connection with the performance-based targets established in 2017. In addition, during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, we established, and our Board of Directors approved, performance-based targets in connection with common stock awards to be issued to certain officers in 2019 contingent upon achievement of these 2018 targets. Share-based compensation expense associated with these performance-based awards was $0.6 million and $1.6 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, and $0.3 million and $0.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively.

As of September 30, 2018, we had $3.6 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 1.8 years using the graded-vesting method. See the table below for changes in shares and related weighted average fair market value per share.

Employees – Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units

During the nine months ended September 30, 2017, we established, and our Board of Directors approved, performance-based restricted stock units in connection with common stock awards which we issued to certain employees during the nine months ended September 30, 2018. In addition, during the nine months ended September 30, 2018, 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 2019 based upon achievement of a performance target. Share-based compensation expense associated with these performance-based awards was $0.3 million and $1.5 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018, respectively, and $1.0 million and $1.7 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2017, respectively. All restricted stock units are accounted for as equity-based awards that are settled with a fixed number of common shares.

As of September 30, 2018, we had $0.4 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 0.5 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 nine months ended September 30, 2018 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, 2017		202,331		$	39.09		77,254		$	41.00		72,000		$	52.16
Granted		65,112			57.51		52,892			65.60		14,072			55.92
Vested		(90,952	)		36.10		—			—		(71,120	)		52.15
Forfeited/Cancelled		(2,010	)		48.63		(14,448	)		41.00		(1,564	)		53.14

Nonvested awards/units at September 30, 2018		174,481		$	47.42		115,698		$	52.25		13,388		$	56.05

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2018 and 2017, we recorded the following stock compensation expense, by income statement category (in thousands):


	Three months ended September 30,				Nine months ended September 30,
	2018		2017		2018		2017
Cost of sales	$	94	$	507	$	749	$	507
Selling		30		292		402		292
Administrative		1,769		1,380		4,938		3,950

	$	1,893	$	2,179	$	6,089	$	4,749

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.