RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES 4.01 Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as an abridgement or restriction of any employee’s constitutional rights or of any right expressly conferred in an Act of the Parliament of Canada.
Rights of Employees to Representation Every employee covered by this Agreement shall have the right to present grievances in accordance with these procedures. Any aggrieved person may be represented at all formal and informal stages of the grievance procedures by himself or by the employee and a representative from the Association. If any employee files any claim or complaint other than under the grievance procedure of this Agreement, then the school district shall not be required to process the same claimed set of facts through the grievance procedures. All meetings and hearing under this procedure shall be conducted in private and shall include only witnesses, the parties of interest, and their designated or selected representatives heretofore referred to in this Article.
Employment and Employee Benefits Matters (a) Subject to the terms of any agreement between a Current Employee and the Company, Parent shall cause the Surviving Corporation and each of its other Subsidiaries to, for a period of one year following the Effective Time (or until employment terminates, if sooner), maintain for each individual employed by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries immediately prior to the Effective Time (each, a “Current Employee”)
(i) an annual base salary and target annual cash bonus opportunity (excluding equity-based compensation and, with respect to the 2025 performance year, specific performance goals) that are, in each case, no less than those provided to the Current Employee as of immediately prior to the Effective Time, (ii) employee benefits that are substantially comparable in the aggregate to those maintained for and provided to the Current Employee as of immediately prior to the Effective Time (in each case, excluding equity, equity-based, deferred compensation, severance, change in control, retention or transaction-related benefits, specific performance goals for any cash incentive compensation for the 2025 performance year, defined benefit pension and post-retirement welfare arrangements) and (iii) severance benefits that are at least as favorable as the severance benefits provided by the Company or one of its Subsidiaries to the Current Employee as of immediately prior to the Effective Time and to the extent set forth on Section 5.6(a) of the Company Disclosure Letter, subject to, as a condition to such Current Employee receiving such severance in connection with such Current Employee’s termination, the applicable Current Employee having then signed and not revoked a release of claims in a form substantially in the form of the Company’s standard release of claims and, in each case, except as otherwise agreed to with a Current Employee.
(b) Parent shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Surviving Corporation to cause service rendered by Current Employees to the Company and its Subsidiaries (as well as service with any predecessor employer of the Company or any such Subsidiary, to the extent service with the predecessor employer is recognized by the Company or such Subsidiary under the comparable Company Plans) prior to the Effective Time to be taken into account for purposes of vesting and eligibility to participate and, solely for vacation and paid time off policies and severance plans and policies, determining levels of benefits under all employee benefit plans, programs, or arrangements of Parent and the Surviving Corporation and its Subsidiaries (the “New Plans”) in which the Current Employees are otherwise eligible to participate, to the same extent and for the same purpose as such service was taken into account under the corresponding Company Plans immediately prior to the Effective Time (the “Old Plans”); provided that the foregoing will not apply to the extent that its application would result in a duplication of benefits or coverage with respect to the same type of benefits and period of service. Parent shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Surviving Corporation to waive any eligibility requirements, waiting periods, actively-at-work requirements, evidence of insurability requirements or pre-existing condition limitations under any New Plan to the extent such restriction would not have been applicable to a Current Employee under any comparable Old Plan in which they participated prior to the Effective Time. Parent shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause the Surviving Corporation and its Subsidiaries to give such Current Employees credit under the New Plans for any eligible expenses incurred by such Current Employees and their covered dependents and credited to such person under the comparable Old Plan during the portion of the plan year prior to the Effective Time for purposes of satisfying all co-payment, co-insurance, deductibles, maximum out-of-pocket requirements, and other out-of-pocket expenses applicable to such Current Employees and their covered dependents under the New Plans in respect of the plan year in which the Effective Time occurs.
(c) Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the terms and conditions of employment for any employees covered by a Labor Agreement shall be governed by the applicable Labor Agreement until the expiration, modification or termination of such Labor Agreement in accordance with its terms and applicable Law. The Company shall, and shall cause its Subsidiaries to use commercially reasonable efforts to satisfy any legal or contractual requirements to provide notice to, or carry out any information and/or consultation procedure with, any employee or groups of employees (or any individual service provider or groups of individual service providers) of the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or any union, works council or similar employee representative organization (a “Labor Organization”) which is required by applicable Law or Contract of the Company with a Labor Organization as a result of the Contemplated Transactions (the “Labor Consultations”). In connection with the Labor Consultations, the Company shall (i) keep Parent reasonably informed of the status of any material developments with respect to such Labor Consultations, (ii) provide Parent with a reasonable opportunity to review, prior to distribution, any written material communications to any Labor Organizations with respect to such Labor Consultations and consider in good faith Parent’s reasonable comments thereto, and (iii) provide Parent with a true and certified copy of any written opinion or written statement delivered by any Labor Organization.
(d) No provision of this Agreement (i) prohibits Parent or the Surviving Corporation from establishing, amending or terminating any Company Plan or any other benefit or compensation plan, policy or arrangement, (ii) requires Parent or the Surviving Corporation to keep any Person employed for any period of time or to offer any particular term of employment, (iii) constitutes the termination of, establishment or adoption of, or amendment to, any Company Plan or other benefit or compensation plan, policy or arrangement or (iv) confers upon any Current Employee or any other Person any third-party beneficiary or similar rights or remedies.
Employment of Consultants Part A General Consultants’ services shall be procured in accordance with the provisions of the Introduction and Section IV of the "Guidelines: Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers" published by the Bank in January 1997 and revised in September 1997 (the Consultant Guidelines) and the following provisions of Section II of this Schedule. Part B: Quality- and Cost-based Selection Except as otherwise provided in Part C of this Section, consultants’ services shall be procured under contracts awarded in accordance with the provisions of Section II of the Consultant Guidelines, paragraph 3 of Appendix 1 thereto, Appendix 2 thereto, and the provisions of paragraphs 3.13 through 3.18 thereof applicable to quality- and cost-based selection of consultants. Part C: Other Procedures for the Selection of Consultants
1. Selection Based on Consultants Qualifications Services estimated to cost less than $100,000 equivalent per contract may be procured under contracts awarded in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 3.1 and 3.7 of the Consultant Guidelines.
PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEES Any Employee who in good faith reports a suspected or actual violation of law, regulation, University policy or procedure, or ethical or professional standards, will be protected from retaliation as a result of such reporting, regardless of whether or not, after investigation, a violation is found to have occurred.
Conduct of Employees and Staff Contractor shall ensure that all of Contractor’s employees and Staff provided under the Contract shall adhere to the standards of conduct prescribed in the Customer’s personnel policy and procedure guidelines, particularly rules of conduct, security procedures, and any other applicable rules, regulations, policies, and procedures of the Customer, including but not limited to Rule Chapter 33-208, Florida Administrative Code. The Contractor shall ensure that all Staff and employees wear attire suitable for the position, either a standard uniform or business casual dress, identified by the Customer.
Restricted Employment for Certain State Personnel Contractor acknowledges that, pursuant to Section 572.069 of the Texas Government Code, a former state officer or employee of a state agency who during the period of state service or employment participated on behalf of a state agency in a procurement or contract negotiation involving Contractor may not accept employment from Contractor before the second anniversary of the date the Contract is signed or the procurement is terminated or withdrawn.
RESTRICTIONS ON EMPLOYMENT OF FORMER STATE OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE The Engineer shall not hire a former state officer or employee of a state agency who, during the period of state service or employment, participated on behalf of the state agency in this agreement’s procurement or its negotiation until after the second anniversary of the date of the officer’s or employee’s service or employment with the state agency ceased.
Termination of Employee Plans The Company shall have provided Parent with evidence, reasonably satisfactory to Parent, as to the termination of the benefit plans referred to in Section 5.12.
Employee Benefit Plans; Employment Agreements (a) Section 2.11(a) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule lists all employee pension plans (as defined in Section 3(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA")), all employee welfare plans (as defined in Section 3(1) of ERISA), and all other bonus, stock option, stock purchase, incentive, deferred compensation, supplemental retirement, severance and other similar fringe or employee benefit plans, programs or arrangements, written or otherwise, as amended, modified or supplemented, for the benefit of, or relating to, any current employee, officer or consultant (or any of their beneficiaries) of Parent or any other entity (whether or not incorporated) which is a member of a controlled group including Parent or which is under common control with Parent (an "ERISA Affiliate") within the meaning of Section 414 of the Code or Section 4001 of ERISA, or any subsidiary of Parent, as well as each plan with respect to which Parent or an ERISA Affiliate could incur liability under Section 4069 (if such plan has been or were terminated) or Section 4212(c) of ERISA or Section 412 of the Code (together, the "Employee Plans"). There have been made available or will be made available as promptly as practicable, but in any event no later than 20 business days after the date hereof to the Company copies of (i) each such written Employee Plan and all related trust agreements, insurance and other contracts (including policies), the most recent summary plan descriptions, summaries of material modifications and communications distributed to plan participants since the date of the most recent summary plan descriptions, (ii) the three most recent annual reports on Form 5500 series, with accompanying schedules and attachments, filed with respect to each Employee Plan required to make such a filing, (iii) the most recent actuarial valuation for each Employee Plan subject to Title IV of ERISA, (iv) the latest reports which have been filed with the Department of Labor with respect to each Employee Plan required to make such filing and (v) favorable determination letters issued for each Employee Plan and related trust that are intended to satisfy the qualification requirements of Section 401(a) and Section 501(a) of the Code (or, if pending, a copy of the application for such determination). For purposes of this Section 2.11, the term "material," when used with respect to (i) any Employee Plan, shall mean that Parent or an ERISA Affiliate has incurred or may incur obligations in an amount exceeding $5,000,000 with respect to such Employee Plan, and (ii) any liability, obligation, breach or non-compliance, shall mean that the Parent or an ERISA Affiliate has incurred or may incur obligations in an amount exceeding $1,000,000, with respect to any one such or series of related liabilities, obligations, breaches, defaults, violations or instances of non-compliance.
(b) Except as set forth in Section 2.11(b) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule, (i) none of the Employee Plans promises or provides retiree medical or other retiree welfare benefits to any person, and none of the Employee Plans is a "multiemployer plan" as such term is defined in Section 3(37) of ERISA; (ii) no party in interest or disqualified person (as defined in Section 3(14) of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code) has at any time engaged in a transaction with respect to any Employee Plan which could subject Parent or any ERISA Affiliate, directly or indirectly, to a tax, penalty or other material liability for prohibited transactions under ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code; (iii) no fiduciary of any Employee Plan has breached any of the responsibilities or obligations imposed upon fiduciaries under Title I of ERISA, which breach could result in any material liability to Parent or any ERISA Affiliate; (iv) all Employee Plans have been established and maintained substantially in accordance with their terms and have operated in compliance in all material respects with the requirements prescribed by any and all statutes (including ERISA and the Code), orders, or governmental rules and regulations currently in effect with respect thereto (including all applicable requirements for notification to participants or the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") or Secretary of the Treasury), and may by their terms be amended and/or terminated at any time subject to applicable law, and Parent and each of its subsidiaries have performed all material obligations required to be performed by them under, are not in any material respect in default under or violation of, and have no knowledge of any default or violation by any other party to, any of the Employee Plans; (v) each Employee Plan intended to qualify under Section 401(a) of the Code and each trust intended to qualify under Section 501(a) of the Code is the subject of a favorable determination letter from the IRS, and nothing has occurred which may reasonably be expected to impair such determination; (vi) all contributions required to be made with respect to any Employee Plan pursuant to Section 412 of the Code, or the terms of the Employee Plan or any collective bargaining agreement, have been made on or before their due dates; (vii) with respect to each Employee Plan, no "reportable event" within the meaning of Section 4043 of ERISA (excluding any such event for which the 30 day notice requirement has been waived under the regulations to Section 4043 of ERISA) has occurred for which there is any material outstanding liability to the Company nor any ERISA Affiliate; and (viii) neither Parent nor any ERISA Affiliate has incurred or reasonably expects to incur any liability under Title IV of ERISA (other than liability for premium payments to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the PBGC") arising in the ordinary course).
(c) Section 2.11(c) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule sets forth a true and complete list of options or other rights, direct or indirect to purchase Parent Common Stock held by any current or former employee, officer or director of Parent or any of its subsidiaries as of the date hereof, together with the number of shares of Parent Common Stock subject to such options, and the exercise price of such options or rights (to the extent determined as of the date hereof), and no such option is intended to qualify as an incentive stock option within the meaning of Section 422(b) of the Code (an "ISO"), provided that no later than 20 business days after the date hereof, Parent will provide the Company with a list of current or former employees, officers and directors of Parent or any of its subsidiaries who hold any options or rights listed on Section 2.11(c) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule and the expiration dates of such options.
(d) Section 2.11(d) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule sets forth a true and complete list of (i) all employment agreements with executive officers of Parent or any of its subsidiaries; (ii) all agreements with consultants who are individuals obligating Parent or any of its subsidiaries to make annual cash payments in an amount exceeding $500,000; (iii) all current executive officers of Parent or any of its subsidiaries who have executed a non-competition agreement with Parent or any of its subsidiaries; (iv) all severance agreements, programs and policies of Parent or any of its subsidiaries with or relating to its employees, in each case with outstanding commitments with respect to any one individual exceeding $250,000 per year or providing for payments over a period in excess of two years, excluding programs and policies required to be maintained by law; and (v) all Employee Plans which contain change in control provisions. Other than as disclosed in Parent's Statement on Schedule 14D-9 filed prior to the date hereof with the SEC in respect of an exchange offer of Western Resources, Inc. (the "Schedule 14D-9"), there have been no material changes to the compensation of Parent's executive officers since September 30, 1996. All related payroll expenses and any accelerated pension benefits of Parent and any of its subsidiaries under severance agreements with former employees, directors and officers of Parent or any of its subsidiaries have been fully accrued in the 1996 Financial Statements.
(e) Except as set forth in Section 2.11(e) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule, no employee of Parent or any of its subsidiaries has participated in any employee pension benefit plans (as defined in Section 3(2) of ERISA) maintained by or on behalf of Parent. The PBGC has not instituted proceedings to terminate any defined benefit plan listed in Section 2.11(e) of the Parent Disclosure Schedule (each, a "Defined Benefit Plan"). The Defined Benefit Plans have no accumulated or waived funding deficiencies within the meaning of Section 412 of the Code nor have any extensions of any amortization period within the meaning of Section 412 of the Code or 302 of ERISA been applied for with respect thereto. The present value of the benefit liabilities (within the meaning of Section 4041 of ERISA) of the Defined Benefit Plans, determined on a termination basis using actuarial assumptions that would be used by the PBGC does not exceed by more than $1,000,000 the value of the Plans' assets. No facts exist with respect to the Defined Benefit Plans which would give rise to a lien on the assets of Parent under Section 4068 of ERISA. All the assets of the Defined Benefit Plans are cash, readily marketable securities or insurance contracts.
(f) Parent has fiduciary liability insurance in effect covering the fiduciaries of the Employee Plans (including Parent) with respect to whom Parent may have liability, and within 20 business days of the date hereof, Parent will provide the Company with a statement of the amount of such insurance.
