WRIGHT EXPRESS
CORPORATION
Effective
Date: —————
February 22, 2005
Amended and
Restated February 1, 2008
Further Amended and Restated
January 1, 2009
Wright
Express Corporation and Wright Express Financial Services
Corporation (referred to collectively herein as the
“Company”), hereby establishes the Wright Express
Corporation Severance Pay Plan for Officers (the
“Plan”), effective as of February 1, 2008 ,
to provide severance benefits to certain employees of the Company
and its subsidiaries who suffer a loss of employment under the
terms and conditions set forth in the Plan. The Plan replaces and
supercedes (i) any and all severance plans, policies and/or
practices of the Company or its subsidiaries, whether written or
unwritten, in effect for covered employees prior to
February 1, 2008 and (ii) any and all severance
plans, policies and or practices of any business or entity acquired
by the Company effective upon the consummation of any such
acquisition, in the sole discretion of the Company. The Plan may
not be amended or changed except in accordance with the provisions
set forth below and is to be administered in the sole and absolute
discretion of the Company.
ARTICLE II — DEFINITIONS
AND INTERPRETATIONS
The
following definitions and interpretations of important terms apply
to the Plan.
(a)
Agreement . The Agreement and General Release provided by
the Company to an Eligible Employee as determined in the sole and
absolute discretion of the Company in connection with his or her
termination of employment with the Company, which if executed by
the Eligible Employee (and not timely revoked), will acknowledge
his or her termination of employment with the Company and release
the Company from liability for any and all claims. By signing the
Agreement and General Release, an Employee waives all rights he or
she may have under state and federal employment statutes and all
common law causes of action related to his or her employment and
termination thereof.
(b)
Base Pay . For purposes hereof, Base Pay shall mean an
employee’s annual base salary or wages from the Company. Base
Pay shall be determined as reflected on the Company’s payroll
records, and shall not include bonuses, overtime pay, shift
premiums, commissions, employer contributions for benefits,
incentive or deferred compensation or other additional
compensation. For purposes hereof, an Eligible Employee’s
Base Pay shall include any salary reduction contributions made on
his or her behalf to any plan of the Company under section 125 or
401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended
(“Code”) .
One week of Base Pay shall mean an employee’s annual Base Pay
divided by fifty-two (52).
(c)
Cause. Termination for cause shall mean termination as a
result of any of the following: (a) misappropriation or
improper use or disclosure of any confidential or proprietary
information of the Company; (b) failure to comply with any
contractual obligations to the Company; (c) solicitation for
hire away from the Company any current Company employees absent the
Company’s consent; or (d) taking any action which the
Company, in its sole discretion, deems to have been inimical or
detrimental to the interests of the Company
(d)
Company . Wright Express Corporation and Wright Express
Financial Services Corporation.
(e)
Effective Date . February 1, 2008
(f)
Eligible Employee . Any employee of the Company who:
(i) is classified by the Company as an active, full-time
employee of the Company and who is designated as Chief Executive
Officer(“CEO”), Executive Vice President
(“EVP”), Senior Vice President (“SVP”), or
Vice President (“VP”), and, (ii) is involuntarily
terminated from employment for one of the reasons set forth in
Article III, Section A of the Plan. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, an Eligible Employee shall not include any individual
(i) classified as an independent contractor by the Company,
(ii) being paid by or through an employee leasing company or
other third party agency, (iii) any other person classified by
the Company as a leased employee, during the period the individual
is so paid or classified even if such individual is later
retroactively reclassified as a common-law employee of the Company
or an affiliate during all or any part of such period pursuant to
applicable law or otherwise.
(g)
Participant . An Eligible Employee who meets all the
requirements set forth in Article III of the Plan. An
individual shall cease being a Participant once payment of all
severance pay and other benefits due to such individual under the
Plan has been completed (or upon the death of the Participant, if
earlier) and no person shall have any further rights under the Plan
with respect to such former Participant.
(h)
Plan Administrator . The Plan Administrator shall be SVP,
Human Resources.
(
i ) Taxation. The Participant acknowledges and agrees
that the Company may directly or indirectly withhold from any
payments under this Plan all federal, state, city or other taxes
that will be required pursuant to any law or governmental
regulation. Anything in this Plan to the contrary notwithstanding,
the terms of this Plan shall be interpreted and applied in a manner
consistent with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code
and the Treasury Regulations (“Regulations”) so as not
to subject Participants to the payment of any tax or interest which
may be imposed under such section, and the Company shall have no
right to accelerate or make any payment under this Plan to the
extent such action would subject the Participant to the payment of
any tax or interest under such section. If all or a portion of the
benefits and payments provided under this Agreement constitute
taxable income to Participants for any taxable year that is prior
to the taxable year in which such payments and/or benefits are to
be paid to the Participant, as a result of the Plan’s failure
to comply with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code
and the Regulations, the applicable payment or benefit shall be
paid immediately to the Participant to the extent such payment or
benefit is required to be included in income.
ARTICLE III —
ELIGIBILITY
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If
you meet the criteria to be determined an Eligible Employee as that
term is defined in Article II (f) above, you shall become
eligible for the severance pay described in Article IV of the
Plan ( i.e. , you will become a “Participant”)
by meeting the requirements set forth below:
(a) you are
involuntarily terminated for one of the following
reasons:
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a
reduction in the Company’s workforce;
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elimination or discontinuation of
your job or position provided that you are not offered a comparable
position. Comparability shall be determined in the sole and
absolute discretion of the Plan Administrator; or
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other circumstances as the Plan
Administrator, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate for the
payment of severance;
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(b) you
deliver a signed, dated and notarized Agreement to the individual
whose signature appears on the cover letter accompanying the Plan
and the Agreement by no later than the date (if any) set forth in the Agreement
; provided, however, that the timing
of such release shall be in compliance with Code Section 409A
and shall not cause an impermissible delay of payment ,
and the time for you to revoke such Agreement (if any) as specified
in the Agreement has expired; and
(c) the
Company has not determined that you, either prior or subsequent to
your termination of employment, have (a) misappropriated or
improperly used or disclosed any confidential or proprietary
information of the Company; (b) failed to comply with any
contractual obligations to the Company; (c) solicited for hire
away from the Company, any current Company employees absent the
Company’s consent; (d) taken any action which the
Company, in its sole discretion, deems to have been inimical or
detrimental to the interests of the Company; or (e) you meet
the criteria to be determined an Eligible Employee as that term is
defined in Article II (f) above.
If you do not
satisfy all of the above requirements, you shall not be considered
a Participant, and you shall not be entitled to commence or
continue to receive any benefits under the Plan. Additionally, you
shall not become a Participant, and shall not become entitled to
benefits while you continue to be employed by the
Company.
You
shall not be eligible for severance pay under this Plan if your
employment is terminated for any reason other than set forth in
paragraph A, including, but not limited to:
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retirement;
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voluntary termination;
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termination by the Company
either
for cause
or not for
cause ;
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elimination or discontinuation of
your job or position, if you are offered a comparable position.
Comparability shall be determined in the sole and absolute
discretion of the Plan Administrator.
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In
addition, if you have executed a separate employment agreement with
the Company which expressly provides for severance pay, you shall
not be eligible for benefits under this Plan, unless this Plan
provides for greater benefits (as determined by the Plan
Administrator). No employee of any subsidiary of the Company
outside of those subsidiary(ies) defined as the Company by
Article II (d) of this Plan shall be eligible for
severance pay under this Plan unless provided for by separate
written agreement.
ARTICLE IV — SEVERANCE
PAY
If
you become a Participant, you will receive the following benefits
under the Plan:
If
you are an Officer of the Company and are designated by the Plan
Administrator as Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”), then
(i) if you have less than six (6) months employment
service with the Company, you will receive twenty-six
(26) weeks of Base Pay; and (ii) if you have been
actively employed with the Company for a minimum of six
(6) months, you will receive fifty-two (52) weeks of Base
Pay.
If
you are an Officer of the Company and are designated by the Plan
Administrator as Senior Vice President or Executive Vice President
(“SVP”) or (“EVP”), then (i) if you
have less than six (6) months of employment service with the
Company, you will receive thirteen (13) weeks of Base Pay; and
(ii) if you have been actively employed with the Company for a
minimum of six (6) months, you will receive twenty-six
(26) weeks of Base Pay.
If
you are an Officer of the Company and are designated by the Plan
Administrator as Vice President (“VP”) then (i) if
you have less than six (6) months of employment service with
the Company, you will receive six (6) weeks of Base Pay; and
(ii) if you have been actively employed with the Company for a
minimum of six (6) months, you will receive thirteen
(13) weeks of Base Pay.
Notwithstanding
the foregoing, if the amount of severance pay that you would have
received if calculated pursuant to the most favorable formula set
forth in the Wright Express Corporation Severance Pay Plan for
Non-Officer Employees (assuming that you were an eligible
participant of such plan) is greater than the amount of severance
pay calculated hereunder, then you will receive hereunder, upon
eligibility for severance pay hereunder, such higher
amount.
Notwithstanding
any provision of this Plan to the contrary, the Plan Administrator,
in its sole and absolute discretion and based on such criteria as
the Administrator deems relevant, may, vary the severance benefits
under this Plan. In no event, however, will a
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Participant
receive more than fifty-two (52) weeks of Base Pay. In
addition, in no event will any employee be entitled to receive
severance pay under this Plan in addition to severance pay provided
for under a separate employment agreement or from any other
source.
B. HOW AND WHEN BENEFITS WILL BE PAID
Severance
pay benefits are payable at the discretion of the Company and may
be paid to you in a lump sum payment , in equal installments not less frequently than
once per month over a twelve month period, or a combination of lump
sum and equal installments not less frequently than once per month
over a twelve month period , subject to applicable
federal, state and local tax deductions and withholding.
Amounts payable under
Article IV, Section A, following termination of
employment, other than those expressly payable on a deferred basis,
will be paid in the payroll period next fol
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