Labor and Employment Matters (a) Except as set forth in Section 3.25 of the Company Disclosure Schedule, (i) there is no labor strike, material labor dispute, slowdown, stoppage or lockout actually pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, and during the past three years there has not been any such action, (ii) no labor organization claims to represent the employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, (iii) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries is a party to or bound by any collective bargaining or similar agreement governing terms and conditions of employment with any labor organization, (iv) none of the employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries is represented by any labor organization and the Company does not have any knowledge of any current organizing activities on behalf of any labor organization among the employees of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, nor, to the knowledge of the Company, does any question concerning representation exist concerning such employees, (v) there is no pending, or to the knowledge of the Company, threatened material unfair labor practice charge or complaint against the Company or any of its Subsidiaries before the National Labor Relations Board or any similar state or foreign agency, (vi) there is no material grievance arising out of any collective bargaining agreement, (vii) no material charges with respect to or relating to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries are pending before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or any other agency responsible for the prevention of unlawful employment practices, (viii) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries has received notice of the intent of any federal, state, local or foreign agency responsible for the enforcement of labor or employment laws to conduct an investigation with respect to or relating to the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and no such investigation is in progress, (ix) the Company has procedures in place for collecting information about employee eligibility on Form I-9, collects such information and follows applicable Laws governing U.S. citizenship in all material respects, and (x) there are no material complaints, lawsuits or other proceedings pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened in any forum by or on behalf of any present or former employee of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries alleging breach of any express or implied contract of employment, any law or regulation governing employment or the termination thereof or other discriminatory, wrongful or tortious conduct in connection with the employment relationship.
Employment and Benefit Matters (a) For the period commencing at the Effective Time and ending on December 31, 2011, Parent agrees to cause the Surviving Corporation to maintain base salary, bonus opportunity, retirement benefits, health benefits, welfare benefits, but not any stock-based benefits, for the Seller Personnel who remain employed after the Effective Time (collectively, the “Seller Employees”) at the same levels that are, in the aggregate, at least comparable to those in effect for similarly situated employees of Parent on the date hereof. Parent shall, and shall cause the Surviving Corporation to, treat, and cause the applicable benefit plans in which Seller Employees are entitled to participate to treat, the service of Seller Employees with Seller or any Subsidiary of Seller attributable to any period before the Effective Time as service rendered to Parent, the Surviving Corporation or any Subsidiary of Parent for purposes of eligibility to participate, vesting and for other appropriate benefits including, but not limited to, applicability of minimum waiting periods for participation, but excluding benefit accrual (including minimum pension amount) and eligibility for early retirement under any defined benefit plan of Parent or eligibility for retiree welfare benefit plans or as would otherwise result in a duplication of benefits. Without limiting the foregoing, Parent shall cause any pre-existing conditions or limitations, eligibility waiting periods or required physical examinations under any health or similar plan of Parent to be waived with respect to Seller Employees and their eligible dependents, to the extent waived or satisfied under the corresponding plan in which Seller Employees participated immediately prior to the Acceptance Date, and any deductibles paid by Seller Employees under any of Seller’s or its Subsidiaries’ health plans in the plan year in which the Acceptance Date occurs shall be credited towards deductibles under the health plans of Parent or any Subsidiary of Parent. Parent shall, and shall cause the Surviving Corporation to, use commercially reasonable efforts to make appropriate arrangements with its insurance carrier(s) to ensure such result. Seller Employees shall be considered to be employed by Parent “at will” and nothing shall be construed to limit the ability of Parent or the Surviving Corporation to terminate the employment of any such Seller Employee at any time. Parent will cooperate with Seller, and assume all costs, in respect of consultation obligations and similar notice and bargaining obligations owed to any employees or consultants of Seller or any Subsidiary of Seller in accordance with all applicable Laws and bargaining agreements, if any.