NOTE 5 – EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Defined Contribution Plan

All of Transcat's U.S.-based employees are eligible to participate in a defined contribution plan, the Long-Term Savings and Deferred Profit Sharing Plan (the “Plan”), provided they meet certain qualifications.

In the long-term savings portion of the Plan (the “401K Plan”), plan participants are entitled to a distribution of their vested account balance upon termination of employment or retirement. Plan participants are fully vested in their contributions while Company contributions are fully vested after three years of service. The Company's matching contributions to the 401K Plan were $0.6 million and $0.5 million in fiscal years 2016 and 2015, respectively.

In the deferred profit sharing portion of the Plan, Company contributions are made at the discretion of the board of directors. The Company made no profit sharing contributions in fiscal years 2016 and 2015.

Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation Plan

The Company has available a non-qualified deferred compensation plan (the “NQDC Plan”) for directors and officers. Participants are fully vested in their contributions. At its discretion, the Company may elect to match employee contributions, subject to legal limitations in conjunction with the 401K Plan, which fully vest after three years of service. During fiscal years 2016 and 2015, the Company did not match any employee contributions. Participant accounts are adjusted to reflect performance, whether positive or negative, of selected investment options chosen by each participant during the deferral period. In the event of bankruptcy, the assets of the NQDC Plan are available to satisfy the claims of the Company's general creditors. The liability for compensation deferred under the NQDC Plan was $0.7 million as of March 26, 2016 and $0.9 million as of March 28, 2015 and is included as a component of other liabilities (non-current) on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Post-retirement Health Care Plans

The Company has a defined benefit post-retirement health care plan which provides long-term care insurance benefits, medical and dental insurance benefits and medical premium reimbursement benefits to eligible retired corporate officers and their eligible spouses (the “Officer Plan”).

The change in the postretirement benefit obligation is as follows:

	FY 2016			FY 2015
Post-retirement benefit obligation, at beginning of fiscal year	$	1,001		$	882
Service cost		34			19
Interest cost		37			39
Benefits paid		(70	)		(56	)
Actuarial loss		4			117
Post-retirement benefit obligation, at end of fiscal year		1,006			1,001
Fair value of plan assets, at end of fiscal year		-			-
Funded status, at end of fiscal year	$	(1,006	)	$	(1,001	)

Accumulated post-retirement benefit obligation, at end of fiscal year	$	1,006		$	1,001

The accumulated postretirement benefit obligation is included as a component of other liabilities (non-current) in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The components of net periodic postretirement benefit cost and other amounts recognized in other comprehensive income are as follows:

	FY 2016			FY 2015
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost:
Service cost	$	34		$	19
Interest cost		37			39
Amortization of prior service cost		58			58
		129			116
Benefit obligations recognized in other comprehensive income:
Amortization of prior service cost		(58	)		(58	)
Net gain (loss)		(8	)		133
		(66	)		75
Total recognized in net periodic benefit cost and
other comprehensive income	$	63		$	191

Amount recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income, at end of fiscal year:
Unrecognized prior service cost	$	162		$	229

The prior service cost is amortized over the average remaining life expectancy of active participants for the Officer Plan. The estimated prior service cost that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive income into net periodic postretirement benefit cost during fiscal year 2017 is less than $0.1 million.

The postretirement benefit obligation was computed by an independent third-party actuary. Assumptions used to determine the postretirement benefit obligation and the net periodic postretirement benefit cost were as follows:

	March 26, 2016			March 28, 2015
Weighted average discount rate		3.9	%		3.8	%

Medical care cost trend rate:
Trend rate assumed for next year		8.0	%		8.0	%
Ultimate trend rate		6.0	%		5.0	%
Year that rate reaches ultimate trend rate		2022			2023

Dental care cost trend rate:
Trend rate assumed for next year and remaining at that level thereafter		5.0	%		5.0	%

Benefit payments are funded by the Company as needed. Payments toward the cost of a retiree's medical and dental coverage are initially determined as a percentage of a base coverage plan in the year of retirement and are limited to increase at a rate of no more than 50% of the annual increase in medical and dental costs, as defined in the plan document. The following benefit payments, which reflect expected future service, as appropriate, are expected to be paid as follows:

Fiscal Year	Amount
2017	$	75
2018		63
2019		57
2020		60
2021		69
Thereafter		682

Increasing the assumed health care cost trend rate by one percentage point would increase the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation and the annual net periodic postretirement benefit cost by $0.1 million. A one percentage point decrease in the healthcare cost trend would decrease the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation and the annual net periodic postretirement benefit cost by $0.1 million.