Note 6 – Employee Benefits

​

401(k) Plan – The Company has an employee tax deferred incentive plan (the “401(k) plan”) under which the Company makes voluntary contributions within certain limitations. All employees who meet specified age and length of service requirements are eligible to participate in the 401(k) plan.

The amount contributed by the Company to the 401(k) Plan is included in salaries and employee benefits in the consolidated statements of income. The amounts contributed to the 401(k) plan for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025 were $1.1 million and $688,000, respectively.

​

Employee Pension Plan – The Company provided pension benefits through a defined benefit plan maintained with the Co-operative Banks Employees Retirement Association (“CBERA”) (the “Plan”). The Plan was a multi-employer plan whereby the contributions by each bank are not restricted to provide benefits to the employees of the contributing bank; therefore, the Company is not required to recognize the funded status of the plan on its consolidated balance sheet and need only accrue for any quarterly contributions due and payable on demand, or any withdrawal liabilities assessed by CBERA if the Company intended to withdraw from the Plan.

​

The Company determined to freeze benefit accruals and withdraw from the CBERA Plan as of December 31, 2023. The Company withdrew from the Plan in the second quarter of 2024.

​

During the three months ended March 31, 2025, as part of the final CBERA Plan liquidation, the Company contributed an additional $1.2 million to the CBERA Plan.

​

Officers’ Deferred Compensation Plan – The Company maintains an unfunded, defined contribution, Non-qualified Deferred Compensation Plan (“Officers’ Deferred Comp Plan”) for select employees of the Company. The Officers’ Deferred Comp Plan was provided to key management of the Company and results in 5% - 20% of the employee’s then current base salary being credited to the participant’s account annually, subject to increases based upon increases in annual base compensation and the possibility of additional discretionary contributions. The employees vest at varying dates in accordance with each individual’s deferred compensation participation agreement; however, all key officers will be fully vested upon the attainment of age 65. The obligations under these plans are included in accrued retirement liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets and approximated $2.5 million and $2.4 million at March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively. The expense under the Officers’ Deferred Comp Plan (recorded in salaries and employee benefits in the consolidated statements of income) approximated $88,000 and $89,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

​

Deferred Compensation Plans – The Company maintains an unfunded Non-qualified Deferred Compensation Plan (“Deferred Comp Plan”) for select employees of the Company. The Deferred Comp Plan was provided to key management of the Company and allows for the employees to defer amounts from their salary, bonus, or Long-Term Incentive Plan (“LTIP”) into the Deferred Comp Plan to be paid out at a future date. Amounts deferred under the Deferred Comp Plan increase in value based upon the growth of the Bank’s tangible capital, with the Compensation Committee holding discretionary authority. The obligations under the Deferred Comp Plan are included in accrued retirement liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets and approximated $8.0 million and $5.1 million at March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively.

​

LTIP – In January 2020, the Company put into place a long-term incentive plan for certain members of its management team where benefits are awarded annually on a discretionary basis and cliff vest after three years. Under this plan, individuals are granted “phantom shares” and benefits are accrued based upon the projected growth of the Bank’s capital. The obligations under this plan are included in accrued retirement liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets and approximated $3.8 million and $7.2 million as of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively. The expense under this plan (recorded in salaries and employee benefits in the consolidated statements of income) approximated $612,000 and $832,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

​

Director Pension Plan – The Company has a director defined benefit pension plan (“Director Pension Plan”), covering directors who were in service prior to 2023 and have met the plan’s vesting requirements. The Company’s liabilities for the Director Pension Plan are calculated by an independent actuary who uses the “projected unit credit” actuarial method to determine the normal cost and actuarial liability. The liability for the Director Pension Plan amounted to $6.9 million and $6.8 million as of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively, and is recorded on the consolidated balance sheets.

The expense under this plan (recorded in salaries and employee benefits in the consolidated statements of income) approximated $160,000 and $162,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

​

The Company records an estimate of net periodic pension cost for the director pension plan to accrued retirement liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet on a quarterly basis. Equity adjustments, to accumulated other comprehensive loss, in conjunction with the pension plan are recorded by the Company annually upon receipt of the independent actuarial report.

​

Employment and Change in Control Agreements – The Company entered into an employment agreement with the Chief Executive Officer that renews for one additional year each January 1^st. During 2025, the Company entered into Change in Control agreements with certain executive officers, which provide severance payments in the event of the executive’s involuntary or constructive termination of employment, including upon a termination following a change in control as defined in the agreements.

​

Employee Stock Ownership Plan – As part of the Initial Public Offering ("IPO") completed on December 27, 2023, the Bank established a tax-qualified Employee Stock Ownership Plan ("ESOP") to provide eligible employees the opportunity to own Company shares. The ESOP borrowed $47.2 million from the Company to purchase 3,416,458 common shares on the open market.

​

The original loan was payable in annual installments over 20 years at an interest rate of 8.50%. During the year ended December 31, 2025, the loan was refinanced into annual installments over the remaining 19 years at an interest rate of 7.50%. As the loan is repaid to the Company, shares are released and allocated proportionally to eligible participants on the basis of each participant’s proportional share of compensation relative to the compensation of all participants. The unallocated ESOP shares are pledged as collateral on the loan. The Company accounts for its ESOP in accordance with FASB ASC 718-40, Compensation – Stock Compensation.

​

Under this guidance, unreleased shares are deducted from shareholders’ equity as unearned ESOP shares on the accompanying consolidated balance sheets.

​

The Company recognizes compensation expense equal to the fair value of the ESOP shares during the periods in which they are committed to be released. To the extent that the fair value of the Company’s ESOP shares differs from the cost of such shares, the difference will be credited or debited to shareholders' equity.

​

As the loan is internally leveraged, the loan receivable from the ESOP to the Company is not reported as an asset nor is the debt of the ESOP shown as a liability on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. Total compensation expense recognized in connection with the ESOP was $885,000 and $783,000 for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.

​

The following table presents share information held by the ESOP:

​

​

Stock-Based Compensation – On April 23, 2025, the shareholders of the Company approved the NB Bancorp, Inc. 2025 Equity Incentive Plan (“2025 Plan”). The 2025 Plan provides for the issuance of up to 5,987,802 shares of common stock pursuant to grants of restricted stock awards (“RSAs”), restricted stock units (“RSUs”), non-qualified stock options and incentive stock options, any or all of which can be granted with performance-based vesting conditions.

Under the 2025 Plan, 1,708,229 shares may be issued as RSAs or RSUs, including those issued as performance shares and PSUs, and 4,270,573 shares may be issued upon the exercise of stock options. These shares may be awarded from the Company’s authorized but unissued shares. However, the 2025 Plan permits the grant of additional awards of restricted stock or RSUs above the aforementioned limit, provided that, for each additional share of RSA or RSU awarded in excess of such limit, the pool of shares available to be issued upon the exercise of stock options will be reduced by three shares.

​

The following table presents RSA activity for the periods indicated (dollars in thousands).

​

The following table presents stock-based compensation expense for the periods indicated.

​

During the three months ended March 31, 2026, the Company granted 283,559 shares of restricted stock with a weighted-average grant date fair value per share of $21.64 and recognized $1.4 million of stock compensation expense. The Company did not have any restricted stock activity or recognize any stock compensation expense during the three months ended March 31, 2025.

​

Unrecognized stock compensation expense, which is included in Additional Paid-in Capital on the Consolidated Balance Sheets was $22.9 million and $18.2 million at March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, respectively.