Except as otherwise required by Applicable Laws or as determined by the Committee, base salary shall not include salary paid during any paid leave of absence or any variable forms of compensation including, but not limited to, overtime, on-call pay, lead premiums, shift differentials, bonuses, incentive compensation, commissions, stock options, restricted stock units, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights, or expense allowances or reimbursements. Nothing in the Plan, or arising as a result of a Participant’s participation in the Plan, shall prevent the Company from changing a Participant’s base salary at any time based on such factors as the Company shall in its discretion determine appropriate.
Awards may be pro-rated on any basis determined appropriate in the Committee’s sole discretion, including, but not limited to, in connection with transfers to new positions or new locations, new hires, Participants on a leave of absence for all or any portion of a Performance Period, or Participants working less than full-time. The Committee reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to increase, reduce or eliminate the amount of an Award otherwise payable to a Participant with respect to any Performance Period.
(a) Unless otherwise determined by the Committee, a Participant must be actively employed and in good standing with the Company on the date the Award is paid. The Committee may make exceptions to this requirement in the case of retirement, death or disability, an unqualified leave of absence or under other circumstances, as determined by the Committee in its sole discretion.
(b) Payment of each Award shall be made as soon as administratively practicable but in any event no later than the 15th day of the third month following the end of the Performance Period during which the Award was earned (in the case of any Performance Period based on a fiscal year, by March 15th thereafter). Each Award shall be paid in cash (or its equivalent) in a single lump sum unless such amounts are otherwise deferred in accordance with Section 6(c).
(c) The Committee, in its sole discretion, may permit a Participant to defer receipt of the payment of cash that would otherwise be delivered to a Participant under the Plan. Any such deferral elections shall be subject to such rules and procedures as shall be determined by the Committee in its sole discretion.
(a) TAX WITHHOLDING. The Company shall have the right to deduct from all Awards any Tax-Related Items, and any other deductions, required to be withheld with respect to such payments. The Company also may withhold such amounts from any other amount payable by the Company or any Affiliate to the Participant, subject to compliance with Applicable Laws.
(b) SECTION 409A OF THE CODE. To the extent that any Award under the Plan is subject to Section 409A of the Code, the terms and administration of such Award shall comply with the provisions of such section and good faith reasonable interpretations thereof, and, to the extent necessary to achieve compliance, shall be modified, replaced or terminated at the discretion of the Committee. In no event will the Company reimburse a Participant for any taxes or other penalties that may be imposed on the Participant as a result of Section 409A of the Code.
(c) CLAIM TO AWARDS AND EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS. Nothing in the Plan shall confer on any Participant the right to continued employment with the Company or any of its Affiliates, or affect in any way the right of the Company or any Affiliate to terminate the Participant’s employment at any time, and for any reason, or change the Participant’s responsibilities. Awards represent unfunded and unsecured obligations of the Company and a holder of any right hereunder in respect of any Award shall have no rights other than those of a general unsecured creditor to the Company.
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