Mr. Eliasson’s offer letter provides that he will receive severance benefits in accordance with the Executive Severance Guidelines in place at the time of his separation from employment. However, if his employment is terminated by the Company without “cause” (as such term is defined in the Executive Severance Guidelines) or by Mr. Eliasson for “good reason” (as such term is defined in the HCIT Holdings, Inc. 2009 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2009 Equity Plan”)), his offer letter provides that he will be entitled to no less than a lump sum payment equal to the sum of
(i) one-times
his base salary; (ii) his target AIP bonus; and (iii) a lump sum amount equal to the portion of health insurance premium that the Company would have paid for active employees with similar coverage for a period of 12 months. These payments and benefits are contingent upon Mr. Eliasson’s execution and
non-revocation
of a general release of claims in favor of the Company. Mr. Eliasson is subject to restrictive covenants, including confidentiality,
non-competition
and
non-solicitation
obligations pursuant to a restrictive covenant agreement with the Company.
Mr. O’Reilly’s employment was transferred from the United States to Canada effective January 1, 2021, and all employees located in Canada are statutorily required to have an employment agreement with their employer. Mr. O’Reilly’s employment with the Company terminated after the end of fiscal year 2022 on April 10, 2022. Under the terms of Mr. O’Reilly’s employment agreement, if he was terminated without “cause” by the Company or if Mr. O’Reilly terminated his employment for “good reason” (as such terms are defined under the Executive Severance Guidelines or Canadian law, as applicable), in addition to certain accrued amounts, Mr. O’Reilly would be entitled to receive (i) 12 months of base salary and (ii) continued coverage under the Company’s Canadian medical, dental and prescription drug plans on the same terms as active employees during the
12-month
period following termination of employment. In addition, if Mr. O’Reilly’s employment was terminated by the Company within 12 months of a change in control, he would also be entitled to a payment equal to his target bonus. The amounts payable to Mr. O’Reilly upon a termination of employment were subject to Mr. O’Reilly’s execution and
non-revocation
of a general release of claims in favor of the Company. Mr. O’Reilly is subject to restrictive covenants, including confidentiality,
non-competition
and
non-solicitation
obligations pursuant to a restrictive covenant agreement with the Company. For information on the payments and benefits that Mr. O’Reilly received upon his termination, see “
Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control—Severance Benefits—Employment Arrangements
.”
In addition to any existing severance arrangements, any other compensation and benefits ultimately awarded in connection with a separation are determined at the discretion of the Compensation Committee and may be based on the executive, his or her position, the nature of the potential separation and such executive’s compliance with specified post-termination restrictive covenants.
Acceleration of the Payment of Fiscal Year 2022 AIP Bonuses and the Vesting of Certain Equity Awards
In late 2021 and in anticipation of the Merger closing in 2022, the Compensation Committee took actions to preserve certain compensation-related corporate income tax deductions for the Company that might otherwise be disallowed, and to mitigate the excise taxes on a portion of the compensation paid to certain named executive officers, as a result of the Merger through the operation of Sections 280G and 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended and regulations promulgated thereunder (the “Code”). Specifically, the Compensation Committee approved (i) the accelerated payment of the fiscal year 2022 bonus payments under the AIP that would have otherwise been paid in calendar year 2022 of an amount based on the target achievement of performance goals and (ii) the accelerated vesting of certain equity awards that would otherwise vest in calendar year 2022 for the following named executive officers, Messrs. de Crescenzo, Eliasson, and O’Reilly, as well as for certain other employees who are not named executive officers, but were identified in connection with the Merger as disqualified individuals as defined under Section 280G of the Code.
The Compensation Committee approved the accelerated payment of the fiscal year 2022 bonus payments under the AIP that would otherwise be scheduled to be paid on or around June 2022 for Messrs. de Crescenzo, Eliasson and O’Reilly in the amounts of $1,338,750, $552,500 and $425,000, respectively, to be paid in calendar year 2021. The accelerated portion of the AIP bonus did not exceed the actual amount of the AIP bonus that each named executive officer earned for fiscal year 2022, which amount is reflected in the
Non-Equity
Incentive Plan Compensation column of the Summary Compensation Table below.
The Compensation Committee also approved the accelerated vesting and settlement, effective as of December 28, 2021, of a portion of the time-based vesting RSUs granted to our named executive officers on April 1, 2021, June 17, 2020 and August 20, 2019, that, prior to the action by the Compensation Committee, were otherwise scheduled to vest on April 1, 2022, June 17, 2022 and August 1, 2022, respectively. The RSUs that were vested and settled as described in this paragraph are described in
“Option Exercises and Stock Vested in Fiscal Year 2022
.”
With the exception of Mr. de Crescenzo, who remains party to an employment agreement with us, and Mr. Eliasson, whose offer letter provides certain severance protections, none of our named executive officers are subject to an employment agreement. The Compensation Committee believes that employment agreements are not necessary to attract members of our executive team and, going forward, entering into employment agreements with executives will be done on an exception-only basis as recommended by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board. Due to the changing marketplace in which we compete for talent, the Compensation Committee regularly reviews this practice to help ensure that we remain competitive in our industry.