r. Employee benefits
i. Short-term employee benefits
All short-term employee benefits which consist of salaries and related benefits, vacation pay, incentives and other short-term benefits are recognized as expense on undiscounted basis when employees have rendered service to the Group.
ii. Post-employment benefit plans and other long-term employee benefits
Post-employment benefit plans consist of funded and unfunded defined benefit pension plans, defined contribution pension plan, other post-employment benefits, post-employment health care benefit plan, defined contribution health care benefit plan and obligations under the Labor Law.
Other long-term employee benefits consist of Long Service Awards (“LSA”), Long Service Leave (“LSL”), and pre-retirement benefits.
The cost of providing benefits under post-employment benefit plans and other long-term employee benefits calculation is performed by an independent actuary using the projected unit credit method.
The net obligations in respect of the defined pension benefit plans and post-retirement health care benefit plan are calculated at the present value of estimated future benefits that the employees have earned in return for their service in the current and prior periods less the fair value of plan assets. The present value of the defined benefit obligation is determined by discounting the estimated future cash outflows using interest rates of Government bonds that are denominated in the currencies in which the benefits will be paid and that have terms to maturity approximating the terms of the related retirement benefit obligation. Government bonds are used as there are no deep markets for high quality corporate bonds.
Plan assets are assets owned by defined benefit pension plan and post-retirement health care benefits plan as well as qualifying insurance policy. The assets are measured at fair value as of reporting dates. The fair value of qualifying insurance policy is deemed to be the present value of the related obligations (subject to any reduction required if the amounts receivable under the insurance policies are not recoverable in full).
Remeasurement, comprising of actuarial gains and losses, the effect of the asset ceiling (excluding amounts included in net interest on the net defined benefit liability (asset)) and the return on plan assets (excluding amounts included in net interest on the net defined benefit liability (asset)) are recognized immediately in the consolidated statements of financial position with a corresponding debit or credit to retained earnings through OCI in the period in which they occur. Remeasurements are not reclassified to profit or loss in subsequent periods.
Past service costs are recognized immediately in profit or loss on the earlier of:
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The date of plan amendment or curtailment; and |
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The date that the Group recognized restructuring-related costs. |
Net interest is calculated by applying the discount rate to the net defined benefit liabilities or assets.
Gains or losses on curtailment are recognized when there is a commitment to make a material reduction in the number of employees covered by a plan or when there is an amendment of defined benefit plan terms such that a material element of future services to be provided by current employees will no longer qualify for benefits, or will qualify only for reduced benefits.
Gains or losses on settlement are recognized when there is a transaction that eliminates all further legal or constructive obligation for part or all of the benefits provided under a defined benefit plan (other than the payment of benefit in accordance with the program and included in the actuarial assumptions).
For defined contribution plans, the regular contributions constitute net periodic costs for the period in which they are due and, as such, are included in “Personnel Expenses” as they become payable.
iii. Share-based payments
The Company operates an equity-settled, share-based compensation plan. The fair value of the employees’ services rendered which are compensated with the Company’s shares is recognized as an expense in the consolidated statements of profit or loss and other comprehensive income and credited to additional paid-in capital at the grant date.
iv. Early retirement benefits
Early retirement benefits are accrued at the time the Group make a commitment to provide early retirement benefits as a result of an offer made in order to encourage voluntary redundancy. A commitment to a termination arises when, and only when a detailed formal plan for the early retirement cannot be withdrawn.