Exhibit
4.1
AMENDED AND
RESTATED COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, INC.
1990 EMPLOYEE
STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
As Amended
through December 30, 2008
1.
Establishment of Plan. Communications Systems, Inc.
(hereinafter referred to as the “Company”) proposes to
grant to certain employees of the Company the opportunity to
purchase common stock of the Company. Such common stock shall be
purchased pursuant to the plan herein set forth which shall be
known as the “COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS, INC. 1990 EMPLOYEE
STOCK PURCHASE PLAN” (hereinafter referred to as the
“Plan”). The Company intends that the Plan shall
qualify as an “Employee Stock Purchase Plan” under
Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended, and
shall be construed in a manner consistent with the requirements of
said Section 423 and the regulations thereunder.
2.
Purpose. The Plan is intended to encourage stock ownership
by all employees of the Company, and as an incentive to them to
remain in employment, improve operations, increase profits, and
contribute more significantly to the Company’s
success.
3.
Administration. The Plan shall be administered by a stock
purchase committee (hereinafter referred to as the
“Committee”) consisting of not less than three
directors or employees of the Company, as designated by the Board
of Directors of the Company (hereinafter referred to as the
“Board of Directors”). The Board of Directors shall
fill all vacancies in the Committee and may remove any member of
the Committee at any time, with or without cause. The Committee
shall select its own chairman and hold its meetings at such times
and places as it may determine. All determinations of the Committee
shall be made by a majority of its members. Any decision which is
made in writing and signed by a majority of the members of the
Committee shall be effective as fully as though made by a majority
vote at a meeting duly called and held. The determinations of the
Committee shall be made in accordance with its judgment as to the
best interests of the Company, its employees and its shareholders
and in accordance with the purposes of the Plan; provided, however,
that the provisions of the Plan shall be construed in a manner
consistent with the requirements of Section 423 of the Internal
Revenue Code, as amended. Such determinations shall be binding upon
the Company and the participants in the Plan unless otherwise
determined by the Board of Directors. The Company shall pay all
expenses of administering the Plan. No member of the Board of
Directors or the Committee shall be liable for any action or
determination made in good faith with respect to the Plan or any
option granted under it.
4.
Duration and Phases of the Plan. (a) The Plan will commence
on July 1, 1990 and will terminate when all shares authorized for
issuance under Section 10 of this Plan, as it may be amended from
time to time, are issued or at such earlier date as shall be
determined by the Company’s Board of Directors, except that
any phase commenced prior to such termination shall, if necessary,
be allowed to continue beyond such termination until completion.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Plan shall be considered of no
force or effect and any options granted shall be considered null
and void unless the holders of a majority of all the issued and
outstanding shares of the common stock of the Company approve the
Plan within twelve (12) months after the date of its adoption by
the Board of Directors; and, further, any amendment of this Plan to
increase the number of shares authorized for issuance under Section
10 of this Plan shall be considered of no force or effect and any
options granted thereafter shall be considered null and void unless
the holders of a majority of all the issued and outstanding shares
of the common stock of the Company approve such amendment of the
Plan within twelve (12) months after the date Section 10 is amended
by the Board of Directors to increase the number of shares
authorized for issuance.(1)
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1 Amended effective January 1, 2002.
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(b) The
Plan shall be carried out in one or more phases, each phase being
for a period of one year or such other period of time as may be
determined by the Board or Committee.(2). No phase shall run
concurrently, but a phase may commence immediately after the
termination of the preceding phase. The existence and date of
commencement of a phase (the “Commencement Date”) shall
be determined by the Committee, provided that the commencement of
the first phase shall be within twelve (12) months before or after
the date of approval of the Plan by the shareholders of the
Company. In the event all of the stock reserved for grant of
options hereunder is issued pursuant to the terms hereof prior to
the commencement of one or more phases scheduled by the Committee
or the number of shares remaining is so small, in the opinion of
the Committee, as to render administration of any succeeding phase
impracticable, such phase or phases shall be cancelled. Phases
shall be numbered successively Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3,
etc.
(c) The
Board of Directors may elect to accelerate the termination date of
any phase effective on the date specified by the Board of Directors
in the event of (i) any consolidation or merger of the Company in
which the Company is not the continuing or surviving corporation or
pursuant to which shares would be converted into cash, securities
or other property, other than a merger of the Company in which
shareholders immediately prior to the merger have the same
proportionate ownership of stock in the surviving corporation
immediately after the merger; (ii) any sale, lease, exchange or
other transfer (in one transaction or a series of related
transactions) of all or substantially all of the assets of the
Company; or (iii) any plan of liquidation or dissolution of the
Company.
5.
Eligibility. All Employees, as defined in Paragraph 19
hereof, who are employed by the Company at least one day prior to
the Commencement Date of a phase shall be eligible to participate
in such phase.
6.
Participation. Participation in the Plan is voluntary. An
eligible Employee may elect to participate in any phase of the
Plan, and thereby become a “Participant” in the Plan,
by completing the Plan payroll deduction form provided by the
Company and delivering it to the Company or its designated
representative prior to the Commencement Date of that phase.
Payroll deductions for a Participant shall commence on the first
payday after the Commencement Date of the phase and shall terminate
on the last payday immediately prior to or coinciding with the
termination date of that phase unless sooner terminated by the
Participant as provided in Paragraph 9 hereof.
7.
Payroll Deductions. (a) Upon enrollment, a Participant shall
elect to make contributions to the Plan by payroll deductions (in
full dollar amounts and in amounts calculated to be as uniform as
practicable throughout the period of the phase), in the aggregate
amount not in excess of 10% of such Participant’s Base Pay
for the term of the phase, as determined according to Paragraph 19
hereof.
The
minimum authorized payroll deduction must aggregate to not less
than $10 per month.
(b) In
the event that the Participant’s compensation for any pay
period is terminated or reduced from the compensation rate for such
a period as of the Commencement Date of the phase for any reason so
that the amount actually withheld on behalf of the Participant as
of the termination date of the phase is less than the amount
anticipated to be withheld over the phase year as determined on the
Commencement Date of the phase, then the extent to which the
Participant may exercise his option shall be based on the amount
actually withheld on his behalf. In the event of a change in the
pay period of any Participant, such as from bi-weekly to monthly,
an appropriate adjustment shall be made to the deduction in each
new pay period so as to ensure the deduction of the proper amount
authorized by the Participant.
____________________________
2 Amended effective August 10,
2005
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(c) All
payroll deductions made for Participants shall be credited to their
accounts under the Plan. The Participant may not make any separate
cash payments into such account.
(d) Except
for his right to discontinue participation in the Plan as provided
in Paragraph 9, no Participant shall be entitled to increase or
decrease the amount to be deducted in a given phase after the
Commencement Date.
(i) A
Participant who is employed by the Company as of the Commencement
Date of a phase shall be granted an option as of such date to
purchase a number of full shares of Company common stock to be
determined by dividing the total amount to be credited to that
Participant’s account under Paragraph 7 hereof by the option
price set forth in Paragraph 8(a)(ii)(A) hereof, subject to the
limitations of Paragraph 10 hereof.
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(ii)
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Unless otherwise determined by the
Board or Committee prior to the commencement of a Phase, the option
price for such shares of common stock shall be the lower
of:
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A.
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Eighty-five percent (85%) of the
fair market value of such shares of common stock on the
Commencement Date for phases beginning prior to December 1, 2006
and ninety-five percent (95%) of the fair market of such shares of
common stock on the termination date for phases beginning with a
pay period that ends after January 1, 2006; or
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B.
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Eighty-five percent (85%) of the
fair market value of such shares of common stock on the termination
date for phases beginning prior to December 1, 2005 and ninety-five
(95%) of the fair market value of such shares of common stock on
the termination date for phases beginning with a pay period that
ends after January 1, 2006.
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(iii) The
fair market value of shares of common stock of the Company shall be
determined by the Committee for each valuation date in a manner
acceptable under Section 423, Internal Revenue Code of
1954.
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(iv)
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Anything herein to the co
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