11. SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION

Share-Based Plans

We have share-based awards outstanding under the following plans: (1) the 2008 Non-Employee Director Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2008 Director LTIP”), and (2) the 2012 Employee Long-Term Incentive Plan (“2012 Employee LTIP”). For the year ended March 31, 2016, awards were issued under the 2008 Director LTIP and the 2012 Employee LTIP. All the share-based plans defined fair market value as the previous trading day's closing price when the grant date falls on a date the stock was not traded.

2008 Director LTIP

On September 15, 2008, our stockholders approved the 2008 Director LTIP that was adopted by the Board on June 25, 2008. Under the 2008 Director LTIP, 250,000 shares were authorized for grant to non-employee directors. The purpose of the 2008 Director LTIP is to align the economic interests of the directors with the interests of stockholders by including equity as a component of pay and to attract, motivate and retain experienced and knowledgeable directors. In addition, each director will receive an annual grant of restricted stock having a grant-date fair value equal to the cash compensation earned by an outside director during our fiscal year ended immediately before the respective annual grant-date. Directors may elect to receive their cash compensation in restricted stock. These restricted shares are prohibited from being sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or otherwise encumbered or disposed of. Half of these shares will vest on the one-year anniversary and another half of these shares will vest on the second-year anniversary from the date of the grant.

2012 Employee LTIP

On September 13, 2012, our stockholders approved the 2012 Employee LTIP that was adopted by the Board on July 10, 2012. Under the 2012 Employee LTIP, 750,000 shares were authorized for grant of incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance awards, or other share-based awards to ePlus employees. The purpose of the 2012 Employee LTIP is to encourage our employees to acquire a proprietary interest in the growth and performance of ePlus, thus enhancing the value of ePlus for the benefit of its stockholders, and to enhance our ability to attract and retain exceptionally qualified individuals. The 2012 Employee LTIP is administered by the Compensation Committee. Shares issuable under the 2012 Employee LTIP may consist of authorized but unissued shares or shares held in our treasury. Shares under the 2012 Employee LTIP will not be used to compensate our outside directors, who may be compensated under the separate 2008 Director LTIP, as discussed above. Under the 2012 Employee LTIP, the Compensation Committee will determine the time and method of exercise of the awards.

Stock Option Activity

During the years ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no stock options granted to employees and we had no outstanding stock options.

Restricted Stock Activity

We estimate the forfeiture rate of the restricted stock to be zero. As of March 31, 2016, we have granted 122,951 shares under the 2008 Director LTIP and 274,254 restricted shares under the 2012 Employee LTIP.

A summary of the non-vested restricted shares is as follows:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Grant- date Fair Value

Non-vested April 1, 2015		176,514		$	52.75
Granted		125,562		$	81.78
Vested		(95,927	)	$	48.87
Forfeited		(2,321	)	$	64.06
Non-vested March 31, 2016		203,828		$	72.33

Upon each vesting period of the restricted stock awards to employees, participants are subject to minimum tax withholding obligations. The 2008 Director LTIP and the 2012 Employee LTIP allow the Company, at the participant’s election, to withhold a sufficient number of shares due to the participant to satisfy their minimum tax withholding obligations. For the year ended March 31, 2016, the Company had withheld 30,447 shares of common stock at a value of $2.5 million, which was included in treasury stock. For the year ended March 31, 2015, the Company had withheld 35,158 shares of common stock at a value of $2.0 million, which was included in treasury stock.

Compensation Expense

We recognize compensation cost for awards of restricted stock with graded vesting on a straight line basis over the requisite service period and estimate the forfeiture rate to be zero, based on historical experience. There are no additional conditions for vesting other than service conditions. During the years ended March 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 we recognized $5.7 million, $4.6 million and $4.0 million, respectively, of total share-based compensation expense. Unrecognized compensation expense related to non-vested restricted stock was $10.0 million, which will be fully recognized over the next 51 months.

We also provide our employees with a contributory 401(k) profit sharing plan. Employer contribution percentages are determined by us and are discretionary each year. The employer contributions vest pro-ratably over a four-year service period by the employees, after which, all employer contributions will be fully vested. For the years ended March 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our employer contributions for the plan were approximately $1.4 million, $1.4 million and $1.1 million, respectively.