8. Employee Stock Compensation

The 2012 and 2015 Plans

At the Annual Meeting of Stockholders held on July 8, 2015, the Company’s stockholders approved the Lakeland Industries, Inc. 2015 Stock Plan (the “2015 Plan”). The executive officers and all other employees and directors of the Company and its subsidiaries are eligible to participate in the 2015 Plan. The 2015 Plan is currently administered by the compensation committee of the Company’s Board of Directors (“Committee”), except that with respect to all non-employee director awards, the Committee shall be deemed to include the full Board. The 2015 Plan authorizes the issuance of awards of restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares, performance units and other stock-based awards. The 2015 Plan also permits the grant of awards that qualify for “performance-based compensation” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. The aggregate number of shares of the Company’s common stock that may be issued under the 2015 Plan may not exceed 100,000 shares. Awards covering no more than 20,000 shares of common stock may be awarded to any plan participant in any one calendar year. Under the 2015 Plan, as of October 31, 2015, the Company granted awards for up to an aggregate of 99,429 restricted shares assuming maximum award levels are achieved.

The 2015 Plan, which terminates in July 2017, is the successor to the Company’s 2012 Stock Incentive Plan (the “2012 Plan”). The Company’s 2012 Plan authorized the issuance of up to a maximum of 310,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to employees and directors of the Company and its subsidiaries in the form of restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares, performance units and other share-based awards. Under the 2012 Plan, as of October 31, 2015, the Company issued 270,587 fully vested shares of common stock and 25,450 restricted shares which will continue to vest according to the terms of the 2012 Plan.

Under the 2012 Plan and the 2015 Plan, the Company generally awards eligible employees and directors with either performance-based or time-based restricted shares. Performance-based restricted shares are awarded at either baseline (target), maximum or zero amounts. The number of restricted shares subject to any award is not tied to a formula or comparable company target ranges, but rather is determined at the discretion of the Committee at the end of the applicable performance period, which is two years under the 2015 Plan and had been three years under the 2012 Plan. The Company recognizes expense related to performance-based restricted share awards over the requisite performance period using the straight-line attribution method based on the most probable outcome (baseline, maximum or zero) at the end of the performance period and the price of the Company’s common stock price at the date of grant.

In addition to the performance-based awards, the Company also grants time-based vesting awards which vest either two or three years after date of issuance, subject to continuous employment and certain other conditions.

As of October 31, 2015, unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to share-based stock awards totaled $48,484 pursuant to the 2012 Plan and $886,537 pursuant to the 2015 Plan, before income taxes, based on the maximum performance award level. Such unrecognized stock-based compensation expense related to restricted stock awards totaled $48,484 for the 2012 Plan and $588,979 for the 2015 Plan at the baseline performance level. The cost of these non-vested awards is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of three years for the 2012 Plan and two years for the 2015 Plan. The performance based awards are not considered stock equivalents for earnings per share (“EPS”) calculation purposes.

The Company recognized total stock-based compensation costs of $420,182 and $1,073,187 for the nine months ended October 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively, of which $0 and $20,707 result from the Company’s prior 2009 Equity Plan, $293,534 and $1,052,480 result from the 2012 Plan, and $126,648 and $0 result from the 2015 Plan. These amounts are reflected in operating expenses. The total income tax benefit recognized for stock-based compensation arrangements was $151,266 and $386,347 for the nine months ended October 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively. As of October 31, 2015 under the Company’s 2009 Equity Plan there are no shares available for grant and all prior grants of restricted shares have vested

Shares under 2015 and 2012 Stock Plan	Outstanding Unvested Grants at Maximum at Beginning of FY16		Granted during FY16 through October 31, 2015		Becoming Vested during FY16 through October 31, 2015		Forfeited during FY16 through October 31, 2015		Outstanding Unvested Grants at Maximum at End of October 31, 2015
Restricted stock grants – employees		147,500		72,999		147,500		—		72,999
Restricted stock grants - directors		49,500		—		49,500		—		—
Matching award program		17,600		—		—		—		17,600
Bonus in stock - employees		36,172		—		33,672		—		2,500
Retainer in stock - directors		13,634		27,944		9,798		—		31,780
Total restricted stock plan		264,406		100,943		240,470		—		124,879

Weighted average grant date fair value	$	6.27	$	10.18	$	6.09		—	$	9.78

Other Compensation Plans/Programs

The Company previously awarded stock-based options to non-employee directors under its Non-employee Directors’ Option Plan (the “Directors’ Plan”) which expired on December 31, 2012. All stock option awards granted under the Directors’ Plan were fully vested at October 31, 2015. During the nine months ending October 31, 2015 there have been forfeitures in the amount of 5,000 shares at a weighted-average exercise price of $6.21 per share, options exercised in the amount of 7,000 shares at a weighted-average price of $6.92 per share, and there were options outstanding to purchase an aggregate of 5,000 shares at a weighted-average exercise price of $8.28 per share. All outstanding stock options have a weighted average remaining contractual term of 1.32 years.

The Company currently utilizes a matching award program pursuant to which all employees are entitled to receive one share of restricted stock for each two shares of the Company’s common stock purchased on the open market. Such restricted shares are subject to a one year vesting period. The valuation is based on the stock price at the grant date and is amortized to expense over the vesting period, which approximates the performance period.

Pursuant to the Company’s bonus-in-stock program, all employees are eligible to elect to receive any cash bonus in shares of restricted stock. Such restricted shares are subject to a two year vesting period. The valuation is based on the stock price at the grant date and is amortized to expense over the two year period, which approximates the performance period. Since the employee is giving up cash for unvested shares, the amount of shares awarded is 133% of the cash amount based on the stock price at the date of grant.

Pursuant to the Company’s director restrictive stock program, all directors are eligible to elect to receive any director fees in shares of restricted stock. Such restricted shares are subject to a two year vesting period. The valuation is based on the stock price at the grant date and is amortized to expense over the two year period, which approximates the performance period. Since the director is giving up cash for unvested shares, the amount of shares awarded is 133% of the cash amount based on the grant date stock price.