Samuels Jewelers – Court Approves KEIP, KERP

October 2, 208 – The Court hearing the Samuels Jewelers case approved the Debtors’ Key Employee Incentive Plan (“the KEIP”) and Key Employee Retention Plan (“the KERP”) [Docket No. 291]. As previously reported [Docket No. 136], “The total potential maximum postpetition cost of the KEIP is $836,000, which is equal to 110% of the annual compensation of the KEIP Participants. The KEIP Participants will be eligible for KEIP payments with regard to the Sub-Milestones so long as they are employed and satisfactorily performing their duties when such Sub-Milestone is achieved. In addition, the KEIP Participants will be eligible for KEIP payments with regard to the achievement of the 100% Recoveries so long as they are employed and satisfactorily performing their duties through (a) the closing of a going concern sale or (b) the conclusion, if necessary, of a going out of business or store closing sale process, in each case for all or substantially all of the Debtor’s assets (the ‘Employee Plan End Date’)….The Debtor proposes to implement a retention program for its key, non-insider employees, providing a maximum aggregate bonus pool of up to $248,000. Each KERP Participant will receive an award based on the Debtor’s analysis of such KERP Participant’s responsibilities and respective critical nature of their duties. The awards range from $5,000 to $25,000. The total compensation for category ‘A’ employee is $25,000, for category ‘B’ is $15,000; for category ‘C’ is $10,000; for category ‘D’ is $7,500 and for category ‘E’ is $5,000, with a total of $212,500.”