Permian Resources Corporation Third Amended and Restated Severance Plan

Contract Categories: Human Resources - Severance Agreements
EX-10.6 2 exhibit106q3-22.htm EX-10.6 Document
EXHIBIT 10.6
PERMIAN RESOURCES CORPORATION
THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED SEVERANCE PLAN
I.PURPOSE
The purpose of this Permian Resources Corporation Third Amended and Restated Severance Plan (the “Plan”) is to encourage employees of Permian Resources Corporation (f/k/a Centennial Resource Development, Inc., together with any successor, the “Company”) and its subsidiaries to remain in the employ of the Employer by providing, among other things, severance protections to such employees in the event their employment is terminated under the circumstances described in this Plan. This Plan supersedes, and amends and restates in its entirety, the Centennial Resource Development, Inc. Second Amended and Restated Severance Plan, as amended to date.
II.DEFINITIONS
For purposes of this Plan, the following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:
A.Administrator” means the Committee or any other committee designated by the Board to administer the Plan.
B.Affiliate” means with respect to any person or entity, any other person or entity that, directly or indirectly, through one or more intermediaries, controls, or is controlled by, or is under common control with, such person or entity. For purposes of this definition, “control,” when used with respect to any person or entity, means the power to direct the management and policies of such person or entity, directly or indirectly, whether through ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise; and the terms “controlling” and “controlled” have meanings correlative to the foregoing.
C.Average Adjusted Bonus” means, with respect to a Participant, the average of the actual annual performance bonuses paid to the Participant, whether paid in cash or property, for the three full fiscal years of service to the Employer (or such fewer number of full fiscal years as the Participant has performed services for the Employer and been eligible for an annual performance bonus from the Employer) immediately preceding the fiscal year in which the Termination Date occurs, excluding any portion of an annual bonus that the Company reasonably determines is attributable to payment of a portion of the annual bonus in property and is over and above the amount of the annual bonus that the Participant would have been paid if the Participant’s entire annual bonus had been paid in cash.
D.Base Salary” means, (i) with respect to any Participant with the Employment Level of Chief Executive Officer, $750,000 and (ii) with respect to any Participant with an Employment Level other than Chief Executive Officer, the Participant’s annualized base salary at the rate in effect on the Participant’s Termination Date, disregarding for this purpose any decrease in base salary that provides a basis for Good Reason.
E.Board” means the Board of Directors of the Company.
F.Cause” means, with respect to a Participant, the Participant’s (i) refusal to perform substantially the Participant’s duties with the Employer (other than any such failure resulting from



incapacity due to physical or mental illness), which failure remains uncured for thirty (30) days following notice thereof delivered to the Participant by the Employer, (ii) willful engagement in conduct that is materially injurious to the Company or its Affiliate or (iii) commission of a crime or an act of fraud, theft, misappropriation or embezzlement that could reasonably be expected to materially impair the Participant’s ability to substantially perform the Participant’s duties with the Employer. No act of the Participant will be considered “willful” unless it is done by the Participant without a reasonable belief that the act was in the best interests of the Company and its Affiliates.
G.Change in Control” means a “Change in Control” as defined in the LTIP. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if a Change in Control constitutes a payment event with respect to any amount which constitutes or provides for the deferral of compensation and is subject to Section 409A, the transaction or event with respect to such amount must also constitute a “change in control event,” as defined in Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-3(i)(5) to the extent required by Section 409A.
H.CIC Bonus” means (i) with respect to any Participant with an Employment Level below Vice President, the Prorated Current-Year Bonus, (ii) with respect to a Participant with an Employment Level of Vice President or higher but other than Chief Executive Officer, the Average Adjusted Bonus or (iii) with respect to a Participant with an Employment Level of Chief Executive Officer, the Target Bonus Amount.
I.CIC Protection Period” means, with respect to a Participant, the period of time set forth opposite the Participant’s Employment Level under the heading “CIC Protection Period” on Schedule A.
J.CIC Qualifying Termination” means, with respect to a Participant, a termination of the Participant’s employment with the Employer by the Employer without Cause (and not due to the Participant’s death or Disability) or by the Participant for Good Reason, in either case, which occurs during the CIC Protection Period.
K.CIC Severance Multiplier” means, with respect to a Participant, the number set forth opposite the Participant’s Employment Level under the heading “CIC Severance Multiplier” on Schedule A.
L.COBRA” means the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, as amended.
M.COBRA Severance Period” means, with respect to a Participant, the period of time set forth opposite the Participant’s Employment Level under the heading “COBRA Severance Period” on Schedule A.
N.Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from time to time, or any successor statute thereto, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, as in effect from time to time.
O.Committee” means the Compensation Committee of the Board.
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P.Disability” means a determination by the Administrator that a Participant is unable to perform the essential functions of the Participant’s position (after accounting for reasonable accommodation, if applicable and required by applicable law), due to physical or mental impairment or other incapacity that continues, or can reasonably be expected to continue, for a period in excess of 180 days, whether or not consecutive (or for any longer period as may be required by applicable law), in any twelve (12) month period.
Q.Dividend Equivalents” means “Dividend Equivalents” as defined in the LTIP.
R.Effective Date” means the date this Plan was approved by the Board.
S.Employer” means, with respect to a Participant, the Company and its subsidiary that employs the Participant.
T.Employment Level” means, with respect to a Participant, the Participant’s employment level with the Employer as in effect at the time of the Participant’s Qualifying Termination.
U.Good Reason” means, with respect to a Participant, the occurrence of any of the following without the Participant’s prior written consent: (i) solely with respect to a Participant with an Employment Level of Vice President or higher, a material diminution in the Participant’s responsibilities, authority and duties as an employee of the Employer, (ii) a material reduction in Participant’s base salary or target annual bonus opportunity, (iii) a requirement by the Employer that the Participant relocate the Participant’s principal location of employment to a location that is more than fifty (50) miles from the Participant’s principal work location as of the Termination Date or (iv) the Company’s failure to cause a Successor to assume the liabilities under this Plan as required under Section VI; provided that with respect to the events described in clauses (i) through (iii), no Good Reason will have occurred unless and until (x) the Participant has provided the Employer, within ninety (90) days of the Participant’s knowledge of the occurrence of the facts and circumstances underlying the Good Reason event, notice stating with reasonable specificity the applicable facts and circumstances constituting Good Reason, (y) the Participant has provided the Employer with an opportunity to cure, and the Employer has not cured, the same within thirty (30) days after the receipt of such notice and (z) the Participant terminates the Participant’s employment within one-hundred eighty (180) days after the end of the cure period.
V.LTIP” means the Company’s 2016 Long Term Incentive Plan, as amended to date, or any successor long term incentive compensation plan of the Company.
W.Non-CIC Qualifying Termination” means with respect to a Participant, a termination of the Participant’s employment with the Employer (i) by the Employer without Cause (and not due to the Participant’s death or Disability) or (ii) by the Participant for Good Reason, in either case, which does not occur during the CIC Protection Period.
X.Outplacement Benefits” means, with respect to a Participant, employment outplacement services to be provided by a provider selected by the Employer during the period of time set forth opposite the Participant’s Employment Level under the heading “Outplacement Services Period” on Schedule A.
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Y.Prorated Current-Year Bonus” means, with respect to a Participant, the Target Bonus Amount, prorated based on the number of calendar months of the fiscal year prior to and including the calendar month in which the Termination Date occurs.
Z.Qualifying Termination” means a CIC Qualifying Termination or Non-CIC Qualifying Termination.
AA.Section 409A” means Section 409A of the Code.
BB.Successor” means any employer (whether or not the employer is an Affiliate of the Company) which acquires (through merger, consolidation, reorganization, transfer, sublease, assignment or otherwise) all or substantially all of the business or assets of the Company or of a division or business of the Company.
CC.Target Bonus Amount” means, (i) with respect to any Participant with the Employment Level of Chief Executive Officer, an amount equal to 100% of the Participant’s Base Salary and (ii) with respect to a Participant other than Chief Executive Officer, the Participant’s target annual performance bonus amount, if any, in effect at the time of the Participant’s Qualifying Termination, disregarding for this purpose any decrease in target annual performance bonus that provides a basis for Good Reason.
DD.Termination Date” means, with respect to a Participant, the date on which a termination of the Participant’s employment is effective.
III.ELIGIBILITY
The participants in this Plan (“Participants”) are all regular U.S. full-time employees of the Company and its direct and indirect subsidiaries.
IV.BENEFITS
A.General. Upon termination of a Participant’s employment with the Employer for any reason, the Participant will be entitled to receive payment of any earned but unpaid Base Salary and any other amounts or benefits, including accrued paid time off to the extent payable upon termination pursuant to the Employer’s policies, under the Employer’s employee benefit plans, programs or arrangements to which the Participant is entitled pursuant to the terms of such plans, programs or arrangements or applicable law, payable in accordance with the terms of such plans, programs or arrangements or as otherwise required by applicable law (collectively, “Accrued Rights”).
B.Termination due to Death or Disability. If a Participant experiences a termination of employment due to such Participant’s death or Disability, then, subject to Sections V, VI and VII, in addition to the Accrued Rights, the Participant (or the Participant’s legal representatives, as applicable) will be entitled to receive the following payments and benefits:
(i)A cash payment, paid in a single installment within sixty (60) days following the Termination Date, equal to 125% of the aggregate COBRA premiums, based on the COBRA premium rates in effect for the month in which the Termination Date occurs, that the
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Participant would need to pay to continue coverage for the Participant and the Participant’s covered beneficiaries under the Employer’s group health plans during a period equal in duration to the COBRA Severance Period;
(ii)If the Participant is terminated due to Disability, the Outplacement Benefits;
(iii)All unvested equity or equity-based awards under any Company equity compensation plans that vest solely based upon the passage of time (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Dividend Equivalents associated with such awards) shall immediately become 100% vested; and
(iv)All unvested equity or equity-based awards under any Company equity compensation plans that vest in whole or in part based upon the attainment of performance vesting conditions (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Dividend Equivalents associated with such awards) shall become vested at the level that would apply based on actual performance calculated as if the Termination Date was the final day of the applicable performance period (without any reduction to the overall award to reflect the shortened performance period).
C.Termination of Employment Outside CIC Protection Period. If a Participant with an Employment Level of Vice President or higher experiences a Non-CIC Qualifying Termination, then, subject to Sections V, VI and VII, in addition to the Accrued Rights, the Participant will be entitled to receive the following payments and benefits:
(i)A cash payment, paid in a single installment within sixty (60) days following the Termination Date, equal to 125% of the aggregate COBRA premiums, based on the COBRA premium rates in effect for the month in which the Termination Date occurs, that the Participant would need to pay to continue coverage for the Participant and the Participant’s covered beneficiaries under the Employer’s group health plans during a period equal in duration to the COBRA Severance Period;
(ii)The Outplacement Benefits;
(iii)The portion of all unvested equity or equity-based awards under any Company equity compensation plans that vest solely based upon the passage of time (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Dividend Equivalents associated with such awards), prorated based on the number of calendar months that have elapsed during the vesting period applicable to such awards prior to and including the calendar month in which the Termination Date occurs, shall immediately become vested; and
(iv)The portion of all unvested equity or equity-based awards under any Company equity compensation plans that vest in whole or in part based upon the attainment of performance vesting conditions (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Dividend Equivalents associated with such awards), prorated based on the number of calendar months that have elapsed during the performance period applicable to such awards prior to and including the calendar month in which the Termination Date occurs, shall remain outstanding and shall vest, based on actual performance calculated over the applicable performance period, when such award would have otherwise vested had the Participant remained employed through the applicable vesting date.
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D.Termination of Employment During CIC Protection Period. If a Participant experiences a CIC Qualifying Termination, then, subject to Sections V, VI and VII, in addition to the Accrued Rights, the Participant will be entitled to receive the following payments and benefits:
(v)A cash payment, paid in a single installment within sixty (60) days following the Termination Date, equal to the sum of (w) the Base Salary multiplied by the CIC Severance Multiplier, (x) the CIC Bonus multiplied by the CIC Severance Multiplier, (y) with respect to any Participant with an Employment Level of Vice President or higher, the Prorated Current-Year Bonus and (z) 125% of the aggregate COBRA premiums, based on the COBRA premium rates in effect for the month in which the Termination Date occurs, that the Participant would need to pay to continue coverage for the Participant and the Participant’s covered beneficiaries under the Employer’s group health plans during a period equal in duration to the COBRA Severance Period;
(vi)The Outplacement Benefits;
(vii)All unvested equity or equity-based awards under any Company equity compensation plans that vest solely based upon the passage of time (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Dividend Equivalents associated with such awards) shall immediately become 100% vested; and
(viii)All unvested equity or equity-based awards under any Company equity compensation plans that vest in whole or in part based upon the attainment of performance vesting conditions (including, for the avoidance of doubt, any Dividend Equivalents associated with such awards) shall become vested at the level that would apply based on actual performance calculated as if the Termination Date was the final day of the applicable performance period (without any reduction to the overall award to reflect the shortened performance period).
V.RELEASE OF CLAIMS
Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, any payments and benefits provided to a Participant under this Plan, other than the Accrued Rights, shall be subject to and contingent upon (A) the Participant’s execution and delivery following the Termination Date of a separation agreement and general release of claims, each in a form reasonably satisfactory to the Company that becomes effective within forty-five (45) days following the Termination Date and (B) the Participant not revoking the foregoing release within seven (7) days after its execution and delivery to the Company.
VI.OFFERS OF EMPLOYMENT; SUCCESSORS
Any Participant with an Employment Level below Vice President shall not be entitled to benefits under this Plan if the Participant rejects or fails to accept a written offer of employment from a Successor or from any Affiliate of the Company made on or before his or her Termination Date that the Company reasonably determines is for substantially comparable employment, except if the Participant rejects or fails to accept the offer for Good Reason. The Company will require any Successor that does not assume the Employer’s obligations under this Plan by operation of law to expressly assume and agree to perform this Plan in the same manner and to the same extent that the Employer would be required to perform if no such succession had taken place.
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VII.TAX MATTERS
A.Withholding. The Employer may deduct and withhold from any amounts payable under this Plan such federal, state, local, foreign or other taxes as are required to be withheld pursuant to any applicable law or regulation.
B.Non-Qualified Deferred Compensation. The payments and benefits under this Plan are intended to comply with or be exempt from Section 409A and, accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted, this Plan shall be interpreted to be in compliance therewith. Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, in the event that the Administrator determines that any amounts payable hereunder will be immediately taxable to any Participant under Section 409A, the Administrator may (without any obligation to do so or to indemnify the Participant for failure to do so) (i) adopt such amendments to this Plan or adopt such other policies and procedures (including amendments, policies and procedures with retroactive effect) that it determines to be necessary or appropriate to preserve the intended tax treatment of the benefits provided by this Plan or the economic benefits of this Plan and (ii) take such other actions it determines to be necessary or appropriate to exempt the amounts payable hereunder from Section 409A or to comply with the requirements of Section 409A and thereby avoid the application of penalty taxes thereunder.
Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, no termination or other similar payments and benefits under this Plan will be payable to a Participant unless the Participant’s termination of employment constitutes a “separation from service” within the meaning of Section 409A (a “Separation from Service”).
Notwithstanding any provision of this Plan to the contrary, if a Participant is deemed by the Company at the time of the Participant’s Separation from Service to be a “specified employee” for purposes of Section 409A, to the extent delayed commencement of any portion of the benefits to which the Participant is entitled under this Plan is required in order to avoid a prohibited distribution under Section 409A, such portion of the Participant’s benefits will not be provided to the Participant prior to the earlier of (x) the expiration of the six-month period measured from the date of the Participant’s Separation from Service or (y) the date of the Participant’s death. As promptly as possible following the expiration of the applicable Section 409A period, all payments and benefits deferred pursuant to the preceding sentence will be paid in a lump sum to a Participant (or the Participant’s estate), and any remaining payments due to the Participant under this Plan will be paid as otherwise provided herein.
A Participant’s right to receive any installment payments under this Plan shall be treated as a right to receive a series of separate payments and, accordingly, each such installment payment shall at all times be considered a separate and distinct payment as permitted under Section 409A.
C.Potential Reduction of Certain “Parachute Payments”.
(i)Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Plan, in the event that any payment or benefit by the Company or otherwise to or for the benefit of a Participant, whether paid or payable or distributed or distributable pursuant to the terms of this Plan (all such payments and benefits, including the payments and benefits under Section IV of the Plan, being hereinafter
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referred to as the “Total Payments”), would be subject (in whole or in part) to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code (the “Excise Tax”), then the Total Payments shall be reduced (in the order provided in subsection B below) to the minimum extent necessary to avoid the imposition of the Excise Tax on the Total Payments, but only if (x) the net amount of such Total Payments, as so reduced (and after subtracting the net amount of federal, state and local income and employment taxes on such reduced Total Payments and after taking into account the phase out of itemized deductions and personal exemptions attributable to such reduced Total Payments), is greater than or equal to (y) the net amount of such Total Payments without such reduction (but after subtracting the net amount of federal, state and local income and employment taxes on such Total Payments and the amount of the Excise Tax to which the Participant would be subject in respect of such unreduced Total Payments and after taking into account the phase out of itemized deductions and personal exemptions attributable to such unreduced Total Payments).
(ii)The Total Payments shall be reduced in the following order: (x) reduction on a pro-rata basis of any cash severance payments that are exempt from Section 409A, (y) reduction on a pro-rata basis of any non-cash severance payments or benefits that are exempt from Section 409A, and (z) reduction of any payments or benefits otherwise payable to the Participant on a pro-rata basis or such other manner that complies with Section 409A; provided, in case of clauses (y) and (z), that reduction of any payments attributable to the acceleration of vesting of Company equity awards shall be first applied to Company equity awards that would otherwise vest last in time.
(iii)All determinations regarding the application of this Section VII. C shall be made by an accounting firm or consulting group with experience in performing calculations regarding the applicability of Section 280G of the Code and the Excise Tax selected by the Company (the “Independent Advisors”). For purposes of determinations, no portion of the Total Payments shall be taken into account which, in the opinion of the Independent Advisors, (x) does not constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of Section 280G(b)(2) of the Code (including by reason of Section 280G(b)(4)(A) of the Code) or (y) constitutes reasonable compensation for services actually rendered, within the meaning of Section 280G(b)(4)(B) of the Code, in excess of the “base amount” (as defined in Section 280G(b)(3) of the Code) allocable to such reasonable compensation. The costs of obtaining such determination and all related fees and expenses (including related fees and expenses incurred in any later audit) shall be borne by the Company.
In the event it is later determined that a greater reduction in the Total Payments should have been made to implement the objective and intent of Section VII. C, the excess amount shall be returned promptly by the Participant to the Company.
VIII.DURATION; TERMINATION; AMENDMENT; MODIFICATION
A.This Plan will become effective on the Effective Date. The Board or the Administrator may amend, modify or terminate this Plan at any time; provided that, except as otherwise provided in Section VII:
(i)No amendment, modification or termination may affect any right of any Participant to claim benefits under this Plan as in effect prior to such amendment, modification or
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termination with respect to a Termination Date that occurs prior to the date of such amendment, modification or termination; and
(ii)During the CIC Protection Period for a given Participant, this Plan may not be amended or modified in any manner that decreases the payments or benefits payable to the Participant or otherwise adversely affects the Participant’s economic rights or terminated.
IX.RELATION TO OTHER PLANS
Nothing in this Plan will prevent or limit a Participant’s continuing or future participation in any plan, practice, policy or program provided by the Company or any Affiliate thereof for which the Participant may qualify, nor will anything in this Plan limit or otherwise affect any rights the Participant may have under any contract or agreement with the Company or any Affiliate thereof. Vested benefits and other amounts a Participant is otherwise entitled to receive under any incentive compensation (including any equity award agreement), deferred compensation, retirement, pension or other plan, practice, policy or program of, or any contract or agreement with, the Company or any Affiliate thereof shall be payable in accordance with the terms of each such plan, practice, policy, program, contract or agreement, as the case may be.
X.NOTICES
All notices or other communications required or permitted by this Plan will be made in writing and all such notices or communications will be deemed to have been duly given when delivered or (unless otherwise specified) mailed by United States certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, addressed as follows:
If to the Company:    Permian Resources Corporation
300 N. Marienfeld St., Ste. 1000
Midland, TX 79701
Attention: General Counsel

If to the Participant:    The Participant’s last known address as set forth in the Company’s records.
XI.ADMINISTRATION
The Plan will be interpreted in accordance with its terms and their intended meanings. However, the Administrator will have the discretion to interpret or construe ambiguous, unclear, or implied (but omitted) terms in any fashion the Administrator determines to be appropriate in its reasonable discretion, and to make any findings of fact needed in the administration of the Plan. If, due to errors in drafting, any Plan provision does not accurately reflect its intended meaning, as demonstrated by consistent interpretations or other evidence of intent, or as determined by the Administrator in its reasonable discretion, the provision shall be considered ambiguous and shall be interpreted by the Administrator in a manner consistent with its intent, as determined in the reasonable discretion of the Administrator. The Administrator may amend the Plan retroactively to cure any such ambiguity.
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Schedule A

Employment LevelCIC Protection PeriodCIC Severance MultiplierCOBRA Severance PeriodOutplacement Services Period
Chief Executive Officer24 months following a Change in Control3.024 months following the Termination Date1 year following the Termination Date
Executive Vice President24 months following a Change in Control2.7524 months following the Termination Date1 year following the Termination Date
Senior Vice President24 months following a Change in Control2.018 months following the Termination Date1 year following the Termination Date
Vice President24 months following a Change in Control1.512 months following the Termination Date6 months following the Termination Date
All Other Participants12 months following a Change in Control1.2512 months following the Termination Date3 months following the Termination Date