Exhibit 3.1
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
OF
PAYCOM SOFTWARE, INC.
ARTICLE ONE
The name of the corporation is Paycom Software, Inc. (hereinafter called the “Corporation”).
ARTICLE TWO
The address of the Corporation’s registered office in the state of Delaware is 1675 South State Street, Suite B, in the City of Dover, in the County of Kent, in the State of Delaware 19901. The name of its registered agent at such address is Capitol Services, Inc.
ARTICLE THREE
The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which corporations may be organized under the General Corporation Law of Delaware (the “DGCL”).
ARTICLE FOUR
The total number of shares which the Corporation shall have the authority to issue is one thousand (1,000) shares, all of which shall be shares of Common Stock, with a par value of one cent ($0.01) per share.
ARTICLE FIVE
The name and mailing address of the incorporator is as follows:
Name | Address | |
Stephanie Levy | Kirkland & Ellis LLP | |
601 Lexington Avenue | ||
New York, NY 10022 |
ARTICLE SIX
The board of directors of the Corporation (the “Board of Directors”) shall have the power to adopt, amend or repeal By-Laws, except as may be otherwise be provided in the By-Laws.
ARTICLE SEVEN
The Corporation expressly elects not to be governed by Section 203 of the DGCL.
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ARTICLE EIGHT
Whenever a compromise or arrangement is proposed between the Corporation and its creditors or any class of them and/or between the Corporation and its stockholders or any class of them, any court of equitable jurisdiction within the State of Delaware may, on the application in a summary way of the Corporation or any creditor or stockholder thereof or on the application of any receiver or receivers appointed for the Corporation under the provisions of Section 291 of the DGCL or on the application of trustees in dissolution or of any receiver or receivers appointed for the Corporation under the provisions of Section 279 of the DGCL, order a meeting of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or the stockholders or class of stockholders of the Corporation, as the case may be, to be summoned in such manner as the said court directs. If a majority in number representing three-fourths in value of the creditors or class of creditors, and/or of the stockholders or class of stockholders of the Corporation, as the case may be, agree to any compromise or arrangement and to any reorganization of the Corporation as a consequence of such compromise or arrangement, the said compromise or arrangement and the said reorganization shall, if sanctioned by the court to which the said application has been made, be binding on all the creditors or class of creditors, and/or on all the stockholders, or class of stockholders, of the Corporation, as the case may be, and also on this Corporation.
ARTICLE NINE
Section 1.Limitation of Liability.
(a) To the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL as it now exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than permitted prior thereto), no director of the Corporation shall be liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages arising from a breach of fiduciary duty owed to the Corporation or its stockholders.
(b) Any repeal or modification of the foregoing paragraph by the stockholders of the Corporation shall not adversely affect any right or protection of a director of the Corporation existing at the time of such repeal or modification.
Section 2.Right to Indemnification. Each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved (including involvement as a witness) in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or, while a director, officer or other employee of the Corporation, is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (an “indemnitee”), whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a director or officer or in any other capacity while serving as a director or officer, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Corporation to the fullest extent authorized by the DGCL, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than permitted prior thereto), against all expense, liability and loss (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, excise taxes or penalties and
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amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by such indemnitee in connection therewith and such indemnification shall continue as to an indemnitee who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators;provided, however, that, except as provided in Section 3 of this Article Nine with respect to proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify any such indemnitee in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such indemnitee only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board of Directors of the Corporation. The right to indemnification conferred in this Section 2 of this Article Nine shall be a contract right and shall include the obligation of the Corporation to pay the expenses incurred in defending any such proceeding in advance of its final disposition. The Corporation may, by action of its Board of Directors, provide indemnification to employees and agents of the Corporation with the same or lesser scope and effect as the foregoing indemnification of directors and officers.
Section 3.Procedure for Indemnification. Any indemnification of a director or officer of the Corporation or advance of expenses under Section 2 of this Article Nine shall be made promptly, and in any event within thirty days, upon the written request of the director or officer. If a determination by the Corporation that the director or officer is entitled to indemnification pursuant to this Article Nine is required, and the Corporation fails to respond within sixty days to a written request for indemnity, the Corporation shall be deemed to have approved the request. If the Corporation denies a written request for indemnification or advance of expenses, in whole or in part, or if payment in full pursuant to such request is not made within thirty days, the right to indemnification or advances as granted by this Article Nine shall be enforceable by the director or officer in any court of competent jurisdiction. Such person’s costs and expenses incurred in connection with successfully establishing his or her right to indemnification, in whole or in part, in any such action shall also be indemnified by the Corporation. It shall be a defense to any such action (other than an action brought to enforce a claim for the advance of expenses where the undertaking required pursuant to Section 2 of this Article Nine, if any, has been tendered to the Corporation) that the claimant has not met the standards of conduct which make it permissible under the DGCL for the Corporation to indemnify the claimant for the amount claimed, but the burden of such defense shall be on the Corporation. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such action that indemnification of the claimant is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the DGCL, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or its stockholders) that the claimant has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that the claimant has not met the applicable standard of conduct. The procedure for indemnification of other employees and agents for whom indemnification is provided pursuant to Section 2 of this Article Nine shall be the same procedure set forth in this Section 3 for directors or officers, unless otherwise set forth in the action of the Board of Directors providing indemnification for such employee or agent.
Section 4.Insurance. The Corporation may purchase and maintain insurance on its own behalf and on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, employee
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or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan, against any expense, liability or loss asserted against him or her and incurred by him or her in any such capacity, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expenses, liability or loss under the DGCL.
Section 5.Service for Subsidiaries. Any person serving as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint venture or other enterprise, at least 50% of whose equity interests are owned by the Corporation (a “subsidiary” for this Article Nine) shall be conclusively presumed to be serving in such capacity at the request of the Corporation.
Section 6.Reliance. Persons who after the date of the adoption of this provision become or remain directors or officers of the Corporation or who, while a director, officer or other employee of the Corporation, become or remain a director, officer, employee or agent of a subsidiary, shall be conclusively presumed to have relied on the rights to indemnity, advance of expenses and other rights contained in this Article Nine in entering into or continuing such service. The rights to indemnification and to the advance of expenses conferred in this Article Nine shall apply to claims made against an indemnitee arising out of acts or omissions which occurred or occur both prior and subsequent to the adoption hereof.
Section 7.Non-Exclusivity of Rights. The rights to indemnification and to the advance of expenses conferred in this Article Nine shall not be exclusive of any other right which any person may have or hereafter acquire under this Certificate of Incorporation or under any statute, bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.
Section 8.Merger or Consolidation. For purposes of this Article Nine, references to the “Corporation” shall include, in addition to the resulting Corporation, any constituent Corporation (including any constituent of a constituent) absorbed in a consolidation or merger which, if its separate existence had continued, would have had power and authority to indemnify its directors, officers and employees or agents, so that any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of such constituent Corporation, or is or was serving at the request of such constituent Corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another Corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, shall stand in the same position under this Article Nine with respect to the resulting or surviving Corporation as he or she would have with respect to such constituent Corporation if its separate existence had continued.
Section 9.Savings Clause. If this Article Nine or any portion hereof shall be invalidated on any ground by any court of competent jurisdiction, then the Corporation shall nevertheless indemnify each person entitled to indemnification under Section 2 of this Article Nine as to all expense, liability and loss (including attorneys’ fees and related disbursements, judgments, fines, Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 excise taxes and penalties, penalties and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) actually and reasonably incurred or suffered by such person and for which indemnification is available to such person pursuant to this Article Nine to the full extent permitted by any applicable portion of this Article Nine that shall not have been invalidated and to the full extent permitted by applicable law.
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Section 10.Indemnification Obligations Intended to be of a Primary Nature. It is the intent that with respect to all advancement and indemnification obligations under this Article Nine, the Corporation shall be the primary source of advancement, reimbursement and indemnification relative to any direct or indirect shareholder of the Corporation (or any affiliate of such shareholder, other than the Corporation or any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries). The Corporation shall have no right to seek contribution, indemnity or other reimbursement for any of its obligations under this Article Nine from any such direct or indirect shareholder of the Corporation (or any affiliate of such shareholder, other than the Corporation or any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries).
ARTICLE TEN
The Corporation hereby eliminates, to the fullest extent permitted by law (as contemplated by Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL) the personal liability of any person who serves as a director of the Corporation to the Corporation and/or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, provided that this Article Ten shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director: (i) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the Corporation or its stockholders; (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; (iii) under Section 174 of the DGCL; or (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit; provided further, however, that if in the future the DGCL is amended or modified (including, but not limited to, Section 102(a)(7)) to permit the elimination of the personal liability of a director of the Corporation to a greater extent than contemplated above, then the provisions of this Article Ten shall be deemed to be automatically amended to provide for the elimination of the personal liability of the directors of the Corporation to such greater extent. This Article Ten shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director for any act or omission occurring prior to the date when this Article Ten becomes effective.
ARTICLE ELEVEN
The Corporation reserves the right to amend or repeal any provisions contained in this Certificate of Incorporation from time to time and at any time in the manner now or hereafter prescribed by the laws of the State of Delaware, and all rights conferred upon stockholders and directors are granted subject to such reservation.
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I, the undersigned, being the sole incorporator hereinbefore named, for the purpose of forming a corporation in pursuance of the DGCL, do make and file this Certificate of Incorporation, hereby declaring and certifying that the facts herein stated are true, and accordingly have hereunto set my hand this 31st day of October, 2013.
/s/ Stephanie Levy |
Stephanie Levy |
Sole Incorporator |
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