| ( 1 ) | | Short-term obligations |
Liabilities for wages and salaries are recognized in respect of employees’ services up to the end of the reporting period and are measured at the amounts expected to be paid when the liabilities are settled. The liabilities are presented as current employee benefit obligations in the balance sheet.
| ( 2 ) | | Post employment benefits |
The Company has defined benefit and defined contribution plans. A defined benefit plan is a pension plan that defines an amount of pension benefit that an employee will receive on retirement, usually dependent on
one
or more factors such as age, years of service and compensation.
The liability recognized in the statement of financial position in respect of defined benefit pension plans is the present value of the defined benefit obligation at the end of the reporting period less the fair value of plan assets, if any. The defined benefit obligation is calculated annually (at year end) by independent actuaries using the projected unit credit method. The present value of the defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting the estimated future cash outflows using interest rates of high-quality corporate bonds that are denominated in the currency in which the benefits will be paid, and that have terms to maturity approximating to the terms of the related pension obligation.
Remeasurement gains and losses arising from experience adjustments and changes in actuarial assumptions are charged or credited to equity in
Other comprehensive income
in the period in which they arise. Past-service costs are recognized immediately in the Income Statement.
For defined benefit plans, net interest income/expense is calculated based on the surplus or deficit derived by the difference between the defined benefit obligations less fair value of plan assets. For defined contribution plans, the Company pays contributions to publicly or privately administered pension insurance plans on a mandatory, contractual or voluntary basis. The Company has
no
further payment obligations once the contributions have been paid. The contributions are recognized as employee benefit expenses when they are due. Prepaid contributions are recognized as an asset to the extent that a cash refund or a reduction in the future payments is available.
Tenaris sponsors funded and unfunded defined benefit pension plans in certain subsidiaries. The most significant are:
| § | An unfunded defined benefit employee retirement plan for certain senior officers. The plan is designed to provide certain benefits to those officers (additional to those contemplated under applicable labor laws) in case of termination of the employment relationship due to certain specified events, including retirement. This unfunded plan provides defined benefits based on years of service and final average salary. As of December 31, 2017 the outstanding liability for this plan amounts to $46.8 million. |
| § | Employees’ service rescission indemnity: the cost of this obligation is charged to the Consolidated Income Statement over the expected service lives of employees. This provision is primarily related to the liability accrued for employees at Tenaris’s Italian subsidiary. As from January 1, 2007 as a consequence of a change in an Italian law, employees were entitled to make contributions to external funds, thus, Tenaris’s Italian subsidiary pays every year the required contribution to the funds with no further obligation. As a result, the plan changed from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan effective from that date, but only limited to the contributions of 2007 onwards. As of December 31, 2017 the outstanding liability for this plan amounts to $19.3 million. |
| § | Funded retirement benefit plans held in Canada for salary and hourly employees hired prior a certain date based on years of service and, in the case of salaried employees, final average salary. Plan assets consist primarily of investments in equities and money market funds. Both plans were replaced for defined contribution plans. Effective June 2016 the salary plan was frozen for the purposes of credited service as well as determination of final average pay. As of December 31, 2017 the outstanding liability for this plan amounts to $16.7 million. |
| § | Funded retirement benefit plan held in the US for the benefit of some employees hired prior a certain date, frozen for the purposes of credited service as well as determination of final average pay for the retirement benefit calculation. Plan assets consist primarily of investments in equities and money market funds. Additionally, an unfunded postretirement health and life plan is present that offers limited medical and life insurance benefits to the retirees, hired before a certain date. As of December 31, 2017 the outstanding liability for this plan amounts to $12.3 million. |
| ( 3 ) | Other long term benefits |
During
2007,
Tenaris launched an employee retention and long term incentive program (the “Program”) applicable to certain senior officers and employees of the Company, who will be granted a number of Units throughout the duration of the Program. The value of each of these Units is based on Tenaris’s shareholders’ equity (excluding non-controlling interest). Also, the beneficiaries of the Program are entitled to receive cash amounts based on (i) the amount of dividend payments made by Tenaris to its shareholders, and (ii) the number of Units held by each beneficiary to the Program. Units vest ratably over a period of
four
years and will be mandatorily redeemed by the Company
ten
years after grant date, with the option of an early redemption at
seven
years after the grant date. As the cash payment of the benefit is tied to the book value of the shares, and
not
to their market value, Tenaris valued this long-term incentive program as a long term benefit plan as classified in IAS
19
“Employee Benefits”.
As of
December 31, 2017
and
2016,
the outstanding liability corresponding to the Program amounts to
$79.2
million and
$78.7
million, respectively. The total value of the units granted (vested and unvested) to date under the program, considering the number of units and the book value per share as of
December 31, 2017
and
2016,
is
$94.8
million and
$92.9
million, respectively.
Terminations benefits are payable when employment is terminated by Tenaris before the normal retirement date, or when an employee accepts voluntary redundancy in exchange for these benefits. Tenaris recognizes termination benefits at the earlier of the following dates: (a) when it can
no
longer withdraw the offer of those benefits; and (b) when the costs for a restructuring that is within the scope of IAS
37
and involves the payment of terminations benefits. In the case of an offer made to encourage voluntary redundancy, the termination benefits are measured based on the number of employees expected to accept the offer.
| ( 5 ) | | Other compensation obligations |
Employee entitlements to annual leave and long-service leave are accrued as earned.
Compensation to employees in the event of dismissal is charged to income in the year in which it becomes payable.
