Certain Employee Matters (a) Purchaser has delivered to Seller a list (the "Prospective Employee List") containing the names of all persons who are actively employed by Seller in connection with the Acquired Business to whom Purchaser intends to offer employment (each a "Prospective Employee" and, collectively, the "Prospective Employees"). Seller shall use commercially reasonable efforts to assist Purchaser in obtaining the employment of the Prospective Employees.
(b) Effective on such date as mutually agreed between Purchaser and Seller , each Prospective Employee who accepts an offer of employment by Purchaser and thereafter commences such employment shall become an employee of Purchaser.
(c) Seller shall, from January 1, 1998 to the Closing Date, accrue bonuses and commissions of Seller's employees consistent with past practices.
(d) Seller shall be solely responsible for and shall pay and fund in full to all of its employees and contractors all compensation, incentive payments, bonuses, retirement annuities, deferred compensation, profit sharing benefits, stock incentives and any accrued sick pay, vacation pay and severance pay accrued through to and including the Closing Date for which Seller is obligated under any Contract or Employee Benefit Plan, or under any personnel or employee manual or policy or under any law or regulation, and Seller shall satisfy all other obligations to such employees accrued through to and including the Closing Date, including without limitation all required withholding tax liabilities and tax deposits. Except as expressly provided herein, no such responsibility or obligation shall constitute an Assumed Purchaser Liability in any way whatsoever. Seller agrees not to accelerate or change the terms of any employee loan as a result of the change of employer for so long as such employees are employed by Purchaser. Seller shall be solely responsible for satisfying any obligations resulting from the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement under Section 4980B(f) of the Code with respect to continuation of group medical coverage with respect to its respective employees.
(e) Except as may otherwise be provided in the Transitional Agreement, Purchaser is not assuming, nor shall it have any responsibility whatsoever for the continuation of, or any liabilities under or in connection with, any Employee Benefit Plan or any employment contract, collective bargaining agreement, severance or retirement arrangement. Purchaser is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a successor employer to Seller with respect to any Employee Benefit Plan; and no plan adopted or maintained by Purchaser after the Closing is or shall be deemed to be a "successor plan," as such term is defined in Section 4021(a) of ERISA, of any Employee Benefit Plan. No assets held under any Employee Benefit Plan shall be transferred to Purchaser or to any plan adopted or maintained by Purchaser. Except as specifically set forth herein, Purchaser shall not be obligated to assume or continue any term or condition of employment currently or previously promised or maintained by Seller with regard to its current, former or retired employees or contractors, and shall not be responsible for any debt, payment, obligation, claim, liability or agreement which relates to or arises from Seller's employment (or termination of employment) of, or contract (or termination of contract) with its current, former or retired employees, regardless of whether such employees are offered employment by Purchaser.
(f) Neither Purchaser nor Seller intend this Agreement to create any rights or interests, except as between Purchaser and Seller, and no present, former or future employee or contractor of Purchaser or Seller shall be treated as a third party beneficiary in or under this Agreement
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.
Compensation; Employment Agreements; Etc Enter into or amend or renew any employment, consulting, severance or similar agreements or arrangements with any director, officer or employee of Security or its subsidiaries, or grant any salary or wage increase or increase any employee benefit, (including incentive or bonus payments) except (i) for normal individual increases in compensation to employees in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice, (ii) for other changes that are required by applicable law, or (iii) to satisfy Previously Disclosed contractual obligations existing as of the date hereof.
Employee Matters (a) SBEEG shall be responsible for, and the Parent Indemnified Persons shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Members from, against and in respect of any and all actual Losses (whether or not such Losses relate to a Third Party Claim), which all or any of such Parent Indemnified Persons may suffer or sustain as a result of, directly or indirectly relating to, or arising out of any notices, payments, benefits, fines, penalties, backpay, and damages required under WARN relating to any “plant closing” or “mass layoff” (as defined in WARN) (or similar triggering event) caused in part by the termination of employees of Spoonful working at the Company before the Closing.
(b) From and after the Closing Date, the Surviving Company shall not be liable for any claims and liabilities under any welfare plans, regardless of when such claims or liabilities arise or are asserted. To the extent the Surviving Company provides any substantially similar welfare plans as those maintained by Spoonful with respect to the Business Employees providing services to the Company, the Surviving Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to cause credit to be given (without duplication; and not to an extent greater than counted immediately before the Closing Date for comparable purposes) to all employees of the Company and their eligible dependents and beneficiaries for any premiums, co-payments and deductibles paid on or prior to the Closing Date in satisfying any deductible and out-of-pocket expense requirements under any new group medical plan for the current plan year.
(c) Effective as of the Closing Date, the Parent will use commercially reasonable efforts to count (without duplication; and not to an extent greater than counted immediately before the Closing Date for comparable purposes) the service of all employees with the Company under the Surviving Company's vacation policy and welfare benefit plans to the extent applicable to such employees. In addition, the Surviving Company shall use commercially reasonable efforts to count (without duplication; and not to an extent greater than counted immediately before the Closing Date for comparable purposes) such service but only in determining each employee's eligibility to participate in, and each such employee's vested percentage in, each of the Surviving Company's employee benefit plans (as defined in Section 3(3) of ERISA) which are subject to ERISA and are applicable to such employee, but, for the avoidance of doubt, not for benefit accrual purposes.
(d) It is expressly acknowledged, understood and agreed that nothing herein is intended to or does or shall constitute an amendment to or requirement to establish any employee benefit or other plan or grant any Person any rights as a third party beneficiary of this Agreement.
Compensation and Related Matters During the Term of the Executive’s employment, as compensation and consideration for the performance by the Executive of the Executive’s duties, responsibilities and covenants pursuant to this Agreement, the Company shall pay the Executive and the Executive agrees to accept in full payment for such performance the amounts and benefits set forth below.
Employee Termination A) Regular employees other than those serving a probationary period, shall give twenty-eight (28) calendar days written notice of termination to a representative designated by the Employer with the authority to accept such written notice.
B) In addition to the twenty-eight (28) calendar day notice, regular employees in positions above the level of general staff nurse shall inform the Employer of their intention to terminate as soon in advance as possible.
C) The period of notice as set forth in (A) above must be for time scheduled to be worked and must not include accrued vacation, unless such vacation has been previously scheduled and approved in accordance with Article 45.03 -
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.
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 Matters; Benefit Plans (a) Subject to applicable Legal Requirements, the employment of each of the Company’s employees is terminable by the Company at will. The Company is not a party to, nor is currently negotiating in connection with entering into, any collective bargaining agreement or other Contract with a labor organization or work council representing any of its employees and there are no labor organizations representing, purporting to represent or, to the knowledge of the Company, seeking to represent any employees of the Company. Since January 1, 2019, there has not been any strike, slowdown, work stoppage, lockout, material labor dispute or any union organizing activity, or any threat thereof, in each case, involving any of the Company’s employees. There is not now pending, and, to the knowledge of the Company, no Person has threatened in writing to commence, any such strike, slowdown, work stoppage, lockout, material labor dispute or union organizing activity or any similar activity or dispute.
(b) Since January 1, 2019, there has been no material Legal Proceeding pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened in writing relating to the employment or engagement of any Company Associate. Since January 1, 2019, the Company has complied with all applicable Legal Requirements related to employment, including employment practices, payment of wages and hours of work, leaves of absence, plant closing notification, privacy rights, labor dispute, workplace safety, retaliation, immigration, and discrimination matters, except any lack of compliance which has not had and would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.
(c) Section 3.16(c) of the Company Disclosure Schedule sets forth a complete and accurate list of each Employee Plan. The Company has either delivered or made available to Parent or Parent’s Representatives prior to the execution of this Agreement with respect to each Employee Plan, accurate and complete copies of the following, as relevant: (i) all plan documents and all amendments thereto, and all related trust, insurance or other funding documents, and all amendments thereto; (ii) the most recent determination letter or opinion letter received from the IRS; (iii) for the three most recent plan years, (A) the annual actuarial or other valuation reports, (B) the IRS Form 5500 and all schedules thereto and (C) audited financial statements; (iv) the most recent summary plan descriptions and any material modifications thereto; (v) the most recent nondiscrimination tests required to be performed under the Code; and (vi) any material non-routine communications with any Governmental Body regarding any Employee Plan.
(d) Neither the Company nor any of its ERISA Affiliates has at any time sponsored, maintained, contributed to, or been required to contribute to, or had any liability in respect of, (i) an “employee pension benefit plan” (as defined in Section 3(2) of ERISA) subject to Title IV of ERISA, Code Section 412 or Section 302 of ERISA, including any “multiemployer plan” as defined in Section 4001 of ERISA. No Employee Plan is a (i) a “multiple employer plan” as defined in Section 413(c) of the Code, or (ii) a “multiple employer welfare arrangement” within the meaning of Section 3(40) of ERISA.
(e) Each Employee Plan that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code has obtained a favorable determination letter (or opinion letter, if applicable) as to its qualified status under the Code. Each Employee Plan is now and has been operated, maintained, and administered in compliance in all material respects with its terms and all applicable Legal Requirements, including but not limited to ERISA and the Code. No non-exempt “prohibited transaction” (within the meaning of Section 406 of ERISA and Section 4975 of the code) has occurred or is reasonably expected to occur with respect to any Employee Plan.
(f) Except to the extent required under Section 601 et seq. of ERISA or 4980B of the Code (or any other similar state or local Legal Requirement) at the participant’s sole expense, neither the Company nor any Employee Plan has any present or future obligation to provide post-employment welfare benefits to or make any payment to, or with respect to any Company Associate.
(g) Since January 1, 2019, all individuals who perform or have performed services for the Company have been properly classified under applicable law as (i) employees or independent contractors and (ii) for employees, as an “exempt” employee or a “non-exempt” employee (within the meaning of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 and applicable state laws), and no such individual has been improperly included or excluded from any Employee Plan, except for misclassifications, non-compliance or exclusions which would not reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect and the Company has not received notice of any pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened inquiry or audit from any Governmental Body concerning such classifications.
(h) The Company maintains no obligations to gross-up or reimburse any individual for any tax or related interest or penalties incurred by such individual under Sections 409A or 4999 of the Code.
(i) Each “nonqualified deferred compensation plan” maintained by the Company has been at all times in material documentary and operational compliance with the requirements of Code Section 409A and the guidance provided thereunder.
(j) The consummation of the Transactions (including in combination with other events or circumstances) will not (i) result in any payment or benefit becoming due to any Company Associate or under any Employee Plan, (ii) increase any amount of compensation or benefits otherwise payable to any Company Associate or under any Employee Plan, (iii) result in the acceleration of the time of payment, funding or vesting of any benefits to any current or former employee, contractor or director of the Company or under any Employee Plan, (iv) limit the right to modify, amend or terminate any Employee Plan (except any limitations imposed by applicable Legal Requirements, if any).
(k) The consummation of the Transactions (including in combination with other events or circumstances) will not result in the payment of any amount that could, individually or in combination with any other payment or benefit, constitute an “excess parachute payment” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code, result in the payment of an excise tax by any Person under Section 4999 of the Code or any amount that would not be deductible under Section 280G of the Code.
(l) With respect to any Employee Plan, (i) no Legal Proceeding (other than routine claims for benefits in the ordinary course) are pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against any Employee Plan, the assets of any of the trusts under such plans or the plan sponsor or administrator, or against any fiduciary of any Employee Plan with respect to the operation thereof, and (ii) no facts or circumstances exist that could reasonably be expected to give rise to any such Legal Proceeding.
Prior Employment Agreements The Executive represents that he/she has not executed any agreement with any previous employer which may impose restrictions on Executive’s employment with the Employer.
