Employment Agreements and Retirement Plans

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Employment Agreements and Retirement Plans

NOTE 13: EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS AND RETIREMENT PLANS

Employment Agreements

We provide the following severance benefits to our executive officers:


•	Each of our executive officers will receive salary continuation for one year if his or her employment is terminated without cause.


•	Generally, restricted stock awards, including those granted to the executive officers, provide for accelerated vesting of some or all of the unvested shares in the event of the holder’s death or disability.

Retirement Plans

We sponsor a 401(k) retirement savings plan under which eligible team members may contribute a portion of pre-tax earnings. The plan provides for a discretionary match of participants’ elective deferrals in the form of either cash or our Class A Common Stock. The Company discretionary match of the participants’ elective deferrals has been made in the form of cash since 2016, and the ability to invest additional funds into Company stock is prohibited. A participant vests in the Company matching contributions pro rata over their first three years of service. All of a participant’s matching contributions will vest to 100% in the event of their death, disability or should the plan terminate due to a change in control.

The following table presents matching contribution information for our 401(k) plan, which were made in cash:



	Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
	2019		2018		2017

	(in thousands)
Matching contributions to EZCORP Inc. 401(k) Plan and Trust	$	964	$	810	$	658

We also provide a non-qualified Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan for selected executives. Funds in the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan vest over three years from the grant date, with one-third vesting each year. All of a participant’s Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan funds from all grants vest 100% in the event of the participant’s death or disability or the termination of the plan due to a change in control. In addition, the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan funds are 100% vested when a participant attains his or her normal retirement age (generally 60 years old and five years of active service) while actively employed by us. Expense of contributions to the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan is recognized based on the vesting schedule.

The following table provides contribution and amortized expense amounts related to the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan:



	Fiscal Year Ended September 30,
	2019		2018		2017

	(in thousands)
Contributions to the Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan	$	509	$	483	$	536
Amortized expense due to Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan	474		476		544