Yes it is. Electric Plus will be one of only 4 union contractors in the United States that have included their union. Electric Plus is the largest of these contractors to have included the union

No, this is simply an additional retirement benefit you will receive, no other plans are changed or removed.

The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) estimates there are roughly 6,500 employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). For more information on how many ESOPs there are, please review the ESOPs by the Numbers article.
Some examples of ESOPs are:

An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) is a qualified retirement plan designed to invest in company stock for the benefit of employees. The ESOP:

• Builds wealth for employee-owners over time
• Creates a market for company stock
• Allows employees to share in the equity ownership of the company

For more information regarding ESOPs, Click Here!

The ESOP provides you with the following:

• Retirement dollars
• Continuation for the Company
• A market for Company shares
• The opportunity for you to participate in the growth of the Company

Yes! The NCEO (National Center for Employee Ownership) has some great material they’ve put togther. Click here for their guide to employee ownership.

You must work for Electric Plus, Inc. for at least one year and work 1,000 hours or more in that year. After completing these requirements, you enter the Plan on defined dates.

After joining the ESOP, you may be eligible to share in Company contributions that are used to acquire Company stock for your account. You are eligible to share in contributions for any year in which you work 1,000 hours AND are employed on the last day of the plan year (December 31).

A formula is used to determine how much of the total contribution is yours in any given year. Your contribution bears the same relationship to the total contribution as your Compensation bears to the total Compensation of all eligible participants in the ESOP.  This also takes into account dollars contributed to other defined contribution/benefit retirement plans.

For example, if your Compensation during a Plan Year is $40,000 and all Plan participants together have total compensation of $2,000,000, your account will be credited with $40,000/$2,000,000 or two percent (2%) of the total Company contributions, forfeitures and allocations of Company stock to be credited for that Plan Year. If the total allocation for that plan year is 2,500 shares, then you would receive 2 percent, or 50 shares.

Example: 2,500 shares x $40,000 / $2,000,000 = 50 shares

You must become “vested” in your account balance before it is yours for good. You will receive a year of service for vesting for any Plan year in which you work 1,000 hours or more.

If you leave before you are 100% vested, the portion of your account that is not vested will be forfeited and shared by the remaining plan participants.

Your account will vest 100% if the following occurs while you are employed at Electric Plus, Inc.:

• You become permanently disabled
• You reach Normal Retirement Age
• Your death occurs

You have two ways to retire from Electric Plus, Inc.

1. You reach Normal Retirement Age, which is the later of age 65 or 5 years of service.
2. You reach Late Retirement Age, which is anytime you decide to retire after you have passed Normal Retirement Age.

The vested portion of your account becomes yours on any one of four occasions: Retirement, Death, Disability and Termination for other causes. For more information on timing, please visit the page, Find out how to get your money.

If you leave before you are 100% vested, the portion of your account that is not vested will be forfeited and shared by the remaining plan participants.

The trustee of the ESOP is Kjersti Cory with SCJ Associates
The trustee of the ESOP manages the plan assets in the best interests of plan participants. The trustee also sets the price of the stock with the help of a third-party appraiser.

The ESOP Trustee determines the stock value by engaging a third-party appraiser who is in the business of valuing companies for ESOP purposes. Stock valuations are conducted annually as of the last day of each plan year (December 31).

Among other things, the appraiser looks at the following: current earnings, company assets, projected profitability and industry trends.

You may be asked to vote if one of the following situations arises:

1. Consolidation
2. Proposed merger with another company
3. Reclassification
4. Dissolution or Liquidation
5. Sale of substantially all of the company assets
6. Recapitalization

ESOPs are permitted by law to borrow money to purchase shares, and this is known as an ESOP acquisition loan. The stock purchased with the loan is held in a suspense account – an account used to hold assets that have not yet been allocated to participants. Shares in the suspense account are released only as the loan is repaid. Each year, the Company will fund the ESOP with Employer Contributions for the ESOP to use to pay back this loan, and shares released with the payments for that year are allocated to participants’ ESOP accounts.

Electric Plus, Inc. is responsible for paying back the loan. ESOP participants are not responsible for any loan payments.

Among other things, the appraiser looks at the following: current earnings, company assets, projected profitability and industry trends.

The Electric Plus, Inc. ESOP can buy more stock for participants now. Because the stock is paid for over a defined period, participants are provided with a definite allocation every year in which the loan is outstanding.

No, you are neither required nor permitted to put your own money into the ESOP.

Electric Plus, Inc. ESOP participants will not put any of their own money into the ESOP, BUT:

1. ESOP participants now have a shared responsibility to help the Company grow
2. Participants’ retirement accounts depend upon the value of the Company’s shares
3. The ESOP increases participants’ stake in the Company and the Company’s stake in them

Factors that affect your account balance are:

1. Number of shares
2. The Company’s annual contribution
3. Your share of amounts forfeited by other participants
4. Your compensation
5. Your years of vesting service
6. Value of the Company’s stock