Exhibit 10.4
DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS LLC
SUPPLEMENTAL DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN
Effective as of October 1, 1999
Amended and Restated as of October 1, 2007
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS
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ARTICLE II
ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION
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ARTICLE III
CONTRIBUTIONS AND CREDITS
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ARTICLE IV
ALLOCATION OF FUNDS
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ARTICLE V
ENTITLEMENT TO BENEFITS
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ARTICLE VI
DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS
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ARTICLE VII
BENEFICIARIES; PARTICIPANT DATA
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ARTICLE VIII
ADMINISTRATION AND RECORDKEEPING
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ARTICLE IX
AMENDMENT
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ARTICLE X
TERMINATION
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ARTICLE XI
MISCELLANEOUS
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ARTICLE XII THE
TRUST
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DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS LLC
SUPPLEMENTAL DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN
Amended and restated effective as of October 1, 2007
RECITALS
This
Discovery Communications LLC Supplemental Deferred Compensation
Plan (the “Plan”) was adopted by Discovery
Communications LLC (the “Employer”) for certain of its
management employees. The purpose of the Plan is to offer those
employees deferred compensation benefits taxable under
Section 451 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended
(the “Code”) and to supplement such employees’
retirement benefits under the Employer’s tax-qualified
retirement plan and other retirement programs. The Plan is intended
to be a “top-hat plan” (i.e., an unfunded deferred
compensation plan maintained for a select group of management or
highly compensated employees) pursuant to Sections 201(2),
301(a)(3) and 401(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”).
The
Employer has previously amended and restated the Plan, and desires
to further amend and restate Plan to provide for changes relating
to compliance with Section 409A of the Code (as defined below)
and the regulations thereunder. Accordingly, the Plan is hereby
restated as follows.
ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS
The
following terms, as used herein, unless a different meaning is
implied by the context, have the following meaning:
1.1 ACCOUNT means the balance
credited to a Participant’s Plan account, including amounts
credited under the Base Compensation Deferral Account, the
Incentive Compensation Deferral Account, the EIP Transfer Account,
the DAP Transfer Account, the Employer Contribution Credit Account
(but excluding any benefits referred to in Section 3.5) and
the Five Year Vesting Account. Said Account shall be determined as
of the date of reference.
1.2 BASE COMPENSATION means
“compensation” as defined in the Qualifed Plan,
determined without regard to the limitation on the amount of
compensation that may be recognized under the Qualified Plan due to
the application of Code Section 401(a)(17), but not in excess
of five hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($550,000).
1.3 BENEFICIARY means any
person or persons so designated in accordance with the provisions
of Article VII.
1.4 CODE means the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 and the regulations thereunder, as amended
from time to time.
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1.5 COMPENSATION means the
total of Base Compensation and Incentive Compensation, as such
terms are defined herein.
1.6 COMPENSATION DEFERRAL
ACCOUNTS is defined in Section 3.3.
1.7 COMPENSATION DEFERRALS is
defined in Section 3.2.
1.8 DAP means the Discovery
Appreciation Plan.
1.9 DESIGNATION DATE means the
date or dates as of which a designation of deemed investment
directions by an individual pursuant to Section 4.4 shall
become effective. The Employer has determined that the Designation
Dates in any Plan Year include each day of the Plan Year upon which
investment directions may be acted.
1.10 DISABILITY means a
condition under which a Participant (1) is unable to engage in
any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically
determined physical or mental impairment that can be expected to
result in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period
of not less than 12 months, or (2) is, by reason of any
medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be
expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a
continuous period of not less than 12 months, receiving income
replacement benefits for a period of not less than three months
under an accident and health policy covering employees of Employer,
as defined pursuant to Section 409A of the Code.
1.11 EFFECTIVE DATE means the
effective date of the Plan, which was October 1, 1999.
1.12 ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE means
any person employed by the Employer who the Retirement Plan
Committee determines (in its sole discretion) is a member of a
select group of management or highly compensated employees of the
Employer (within the meaning of ERISA).
By each
December 1, the Employer shall notify those individuals, if
any, who will be Eligible Employees for the next Plan Year. If the
Employer determines that an individual first becomes an Eligible
Employee during a Plan Year, the Employer shall notify such
individual of its determination and of the date during the Plan
Year on which the individual shall first become an Eligible
Employee.
1.13 EMPLOYER means Discovery
Communications LLC and its successors and assigns unless otherwise
herein provided, or any other corporation or business organization
which, with the consent of Discovery Communications LLC or its
successors or assigns, assumes the Employer’s obligations
hereunder, or any other corporation or business organization which
agrees, with the consent of Discovery Communications LLC, to become
a party to the Plan.
1.14 EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION CREDIT
ACCOUNT is defined in Section 3.1.
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1.15 EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION
CREDITS is defined in Section 3.1.
1.16 INCENTIVE COMPENSATION
means a Participant’s bonuses, commissions, incentive
compensation and such other amounts as may be reflected on the
Participant’s Form W-2, but not included in Base
Compensation. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Incentive Compensation
shall not include payments from the DAP.
1.17 LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN
TRANSFER ACCOUNT is defined in Section 3.5.
1.18 PARTICIPANT means any
Eligible Employee designated as a Participant in accordance with
the provisions of Article II, including, where appropriate
according to the context of the Plan, any former employee who is or
may become (or whose Beneficiaries may become) eligible to receive
a benefit under the Plan and solely with respect to the Five Year
Vesting Account, any employee designated as a Participant in
respect of receiving a contribution to the Five Year Vesting
Account; provided, however, that any such employee is not otherwise
entitled to participate in the Plan with respect to other
contributions, except as permitted under Article II.
1.19 PARTICIPANT ENROLLMENT AND
ELECTION FORM means the form (or forms) on which a Participant
agrees to make a salary reduction contribution election under the
Qualified Plan, on which a Participant elects to defer Compensation
hereunder, on which the Participant makes an election concerning
the manner of payment of his or her Account, and on which the
Participant makes certain other designations as required
thereon.
1.20 PLAN means this Discovery
Communications LLC Supplemental Deferred Compensation Plan, as
amended from time to time.
1.21 PLAN YEAR means the
twelve (12) month period ending on the December 31 of
each year during which the Plan is in effect. Notwithstanding the
preceding, the period beginning October 1, 1999 and ending
December 31, 1999 was deemed a short Plan Year.
1.22 QUALIFIED PLAN means the
Discovery Communications LLC Retirement Savings Plan, as amended
from time to time.
1.23 SEPARATION FROM SERVICE
means the cessation of a Participant’s services within the
meaning of Treas. Reg. §1.409A-1(h).
1.24 TRUST means the trust
fund, if any, established pursuant to the Plan.
1.25 TRUSTEE means the trustee
named in the agreement establishing the Trust and such successor
and/or additional trustees as may be named pursuant to the terms of
the agreement establishing the Trust.
1.26 UNFORESEEABLE EMERGENCY
means a severe financial hardship to the Participant resulting from
an illness or accident of the Participant, the Participant’s
spouse, or the Participant’s dependent (as defined in Code
Section 152(a), as the same may
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be amended from
time to time), loss of the Participant’s property due to
casualty, or other similar extraordinary and unforeseeable
circumstances arising as a result of events beyond the control of
the Participant.
1.27 VALUATION DATE means the
last day of each Plan Year or such other date the Employer, in its
sole discretion, designates as a Valuation Date.
ARTICLE II
ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION
2.1 REQUIREMENTS . An Eligible
Employee shall become a Participant by filing a Participant
Enrollment and Election Form with the Employer prior to the
beginning of the Plan Year and agreeing to make Compensation
Deferrals into the Plan. No individual shall become a Participant,
however, if he or she is not an Eligible Employee on the date his
or her participation is to begin. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
with respect to an employee who first becomes eligible to
participate in the Plan during a Plan Year, a Participant
Enrollment and Election Form must be filed with the Employer within
thirty (30) calendar days after the date the employee first
becomes eligible to participate in the Plan.
Participation
in the Plan is voluntary. In order to participate in the Plan an
Eligible Employee must make an irrevocable written application in
such manner as may be required by Section 3.2.
2.2 RE-EMPLOYMENT . If a
Participant whose employment with the Employer is terminated is
subsequently re-employed with the Employer, he or she may become a
Participant in accordance with the provisions of
Section 2.1.
2.3 CHANGE OF EMPLOYMENT
CATEGORY . During any period in which a Participant remains in
the employ of the Employer, but ceases to be an Eligible Employee,
he or she shall not be eligible to make Compensation Deferrals or
to be credited with Employer Contribution Credits hereunder.
ARTICLE III
CONTRIBUTIONS AND CREDITS
3.1 EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION
CREDITS . There shall be established and maintained a separate
Employer Contribution Credit Account in the name of each
Participant. Such Account shall be credited or debited, as
applicable, with (a) amounts equal to the Employer’s
Contribution Credits credited to that Account; and (b) amounts
equal to any deemed earnings and losses (to the extent realized,
based upon deemed fair market value of the Account’s deemed
assets as determined by the Employer, in its discretion) allocated
to that Account; and (c) expenses and/or taxes charged to that
Account.
The
Employer’s Contribution Credits credited to a
Participant’s Employer Contribution Credit Account for a Plan
Year shall equal the sum of (a) and (b) below:
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(a) the
excess of (i) the sum of the matching contributions that would
have been made by the Employer under the Qualified Plan on behalf
of the Participant for the Plan Year, but calculated based on his
Base Compensation as defined hereunder, over (ii) the sum of
the matching contributions actually made by the Employer to the
Qualified Plan on behalf of the Participant for the Plan Year;
and
(b)
additional amounts, if any, that the Employer, in its sole
discretion, contributes to the Participant’s Employer
Contribution Credit Account.
(c) A
Participant shall at all times be one hundred percent (100%) vested
in amounts credited to his or her Employer Contribution Credit
Account.
3.2 PARTICIPANT ELECTIVE
COMPENSATION DEFERRALS . In accordance with rules established
by the Employer, a Participant may elect to defer Compensation
which is due to be earned and which would otherwise be paid to the
Participant, in any fixed percentage designated by the Participant;
provided, however, that such deferral may not exceed fifty percent
(50%) of Compensation. A Participant must make a separate election
to defer Base Compensation (“Base Compensation
Deferrals”) and Incentive Compensation (“Incentive
Compensation Deferrals”). Amounts so deferred will be
considered collectively as a Participant’s
“Compensation Deferrals.” A Participant shall make such
elections with respect to a coming twelve (12) month Plan Year
during a period designated by the Employer prior to the Plan Year
(the “annual enrollment period”) or, if an employee is
not eligible to participate at such time, no later than thirty
(30) calendar days after the date the employee is first
eligible to participate in the Plan.
A
Participant may not cancel his or her Base Compensation Deferral
election or his or her Incentive Compensation Deferral election
unless so required under the Qualified Plan in order for the
Participant to obtain a hardship withdrawal from the Qualified Plan
or upon the occurrence of an Unforeseeable Emergency. After the
lifting of a period of suspension from the Plan, the Participant
shall be treated as a newly Eligible Employee.
Unless
so canceled, a Base Compensation Deferral deduction election and an
Incentive Compensation Deferral deduction election shall both
continue in force for the remainder of the Plan Year. Compensation
Deferrals shall be deducted by the Employer from the appropriate
pay of a deferring Participant and shall be credited to the Account
of the deferring Participant.
3.3 COMPENSATION DEFERRAL
ACCOUNTS . There shall be established and maintained by the
Employer a separate Base Compensation Deferral Account and a
separate Incentive Compensation Deferral Account in the name of
each Participant, to which shall be credited or debited, as
applicable: (a) amounts equal to the Participant’s
Compensation Deferrals under Section 3.2; (b) amounts equal to
any deemed earnings and losses (to the extent realized, based upon
deemed fair market value of the Accounts’ deemed assets as
determined by the Employer in its discretion) attributable or
allocable thereto; and (c) expenses and/or taxes charged to
those Accounts.
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A
Participant shall at all times be one hundred percent (100%) vested
in amounts credited to both his or her Base Compensation Deferral
Account and his or her Incentive Compensation Deferral
Account.
3.4 PARTICIPANT SEVERANCE
DEFERRALS . In accordance with rules established by the
Employer, a Participant may elect to defer any severance payment to
which the Participant may become entitled (in twenty-five percent
(25%) increments) for Separation from Service on or prior to
December 31, 2007 by irrevocably electing, upon the later of
the 2005 election period or the Participant’s initial
enrollment in the Plan prior to 2007 to have such payments made in
installment form (in the manner provided in Section 6.2)
rather than as a lump sum.
Notwithstanding
anything herein to the contrary, except for the deferral
opportunity described in this Section 3.4 with respect to
Separations from Service on or prior to December 31, 2007, the
Participant’s severance benefits shall be governed by the
Employer plan or plans, or the Employer policy or policies, which
provide for severance benefits, and not by the Plan.
Notwithstanding
anything elsewhere to the contrary, no deferral elections pursuant
to this Plan shall be effective with respect to severance payments,
if any, payable to Participants with respect to Separations from
Service on or after January 1, 2008.
3.5 LONG-TERM INCENTIVE PLAN
TRANSFER ACCOUNTS . There shall be established and maintained
by the Employer a separate Long-term Incentive Plan Transfer
Account in the name of each Participant on whose behalf is
transferred, in accordance with the provisions of this Section,
vested benefits under the DAP. Such transfers, and the amounts
transferred, shall be subject to the following provisions:
(a)
Eligible Employees and Participants who are actively employed by
the Employer may request no later than the December 31
st of
the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the DAP
award is made the Committee (as that term is defined in the DAP) to
effect a transfer of all or a portion of such Participant’s
DAP award to this Plan on the date such award would otherwise be
payable under the DAP under certain circumstances described in the
DAP and in accordance with Section 409A. Such request shall be
made on such forms and at such times as the Employer may prescribe
in accordance with Section 409A. If such request is approved,
the amount of the transferable benefit shall be determined under
the DAP, in accordance with the provisions, terms and conditions of
the DAP, and the Participant’s vested benefit under the DAP
shall be reduced by an amount equal to the amount of the
transfer.
(b) The
Long-Term Incentive Plan Transfer Account shall be credited or
debited, as applicable with: (a) amounts transferred from the
DAP in accordance with this Section; (b) amounts equal to any
deemed earnings and losses (to the extent realized, based upon
deemed fair market value of the Account’s deemed assets as
determined by the Employer in its discretion) attributable or
allocable thereto; and (c) expenses and/or taxes charged to
that Account.
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(c) A
Participant shall at all times be one hundred percent (100%) vested
in amounts credited to his or her Long-Term Incentive Plan Transfer
Account. Notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent all or any
portion of a DAP award which was to be transferred to this Plan is
forfeited under the terms of the DAP, no such award shall be
transferred or payable under this Plan.
3.6 FIVE YEAR VESTING ACCOUNT
. There shall be established and maintained by the Employer a
separate Five Year Vesting Account in the name of any designated
Participant, to which shall be credited or debited, as applicable:
(a) amounts contributed to the Five Year Vesting Account by
the Employer on behalf of any such Participant; (b) amounts
equal to any deemed earnings or losses (to the extent realized,
based upon deemed fair market value of the Five Year Vesting
Account’s deemed assets as determined by the Employer in its
discretion) attributable or allocable thereto; and
(c) expenses and/or taxes charged to the Five Year Vesting
Account.
Amounts
contributed to the Five Year Vesting Account of a Participant,
together with earnings thereon, shall vest in five equal annual
installments on the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth
anniversaries of the dates such amounts are deemed contributed to
the Plan (or such other date as the Employer may designate in
writing), subject to the continuous employment of any such
Participant by the Employer through a relevant vesting date.
Upon
any termination of employment of a Participant (notwithstanding the
basis therefor), any amounts contributed to the Five Year Vesting
Account that have not vested as of the date of such termination,
together with any earnings thereon, shall be forfeited. Upon a
termination of a Participant’s employment for
“Cause” (as defined in an employment agreement between
the Company and such Participant, or if there is no such agreement,
“cause” in accordance with the Company’s
policies) or upon a Participant’s violation of such
Participant’s employment agreement with the Company, all
amounts contributed to the Five Year Vesting Account, and any
earnings thereon, shall be forfeited.
ARTICLE IV
ALLOCATION OF FUNDS
4.1 ALLOCATION OF DEEMED EARNINGS
OR LOSSES ON ACCOUNTS . Pursuant to Section 4.4, each
Participant shall have the right to direct the Employer as to how
amounts in his or her Plan Account shall be deemed to be invested
in the deemed investment options made available under the Plan.
Subject to such limitations as may from time to time be required by
law, imposed by the Employer or the Trustee or contained elsewhere
in the Plan, and subject to such operating rules and procedures as
may be imposed from time to time by the Employer, prior to the date
on which a direction will become effective, the Participant shall
have the right to direct the Employer as to how amounts in his or
her Account shall be deemed to be invested. The Employer shall
direct the Trustee to invest the account maintained in the Trust on
behalf of the Participant pursuant to the deemed investment
directions the Employer properly has received from the
Participant.
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The
value of the Participant’s Account shall be equal to the
value of the account maintained under the Trust on behalf of the
Participant. As of each Valuation Date of the Trust, the
Participant’s Account will be credited or debited to reflect
the Participant’s deemed investments of the Trust. The
Participant’s Plan Account will be credited or debited with
the increase or decrease in the realizable net asset value or
credited interest, as applicable, of the designated
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