11.	Equity Plans :

Restricted Stock Un

its and Performance Share Units

Pursuant to the Amended and Restated Olympic Steel

2007

Omnibus Incentive Plan (the Incentive Plan), the Company

may

grant stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted shares, restricted share units, performance shares, and other stock- and cash-based awards to employees and directors of, and consultants to, the Company and its affiliates. Since adoption of the Incentive Plan,

1,000,000

shares of common stock have been authorized for equity grants.

On an annual basis the compensation committee of the Company’s Board of Directors awards restricted stock units (RSUs), to each non-employee director as part of their annual compensation. The annual awards for

2020

and

2019

per director were

$80,000

Subject to the terms of the Plan and the RSU agreement, the RSUs vest after

one

year of service (from the date of grant). The RSUs are

not

converted into shares of common stock until the director either resigns or is terminated from the board of directors.

Under the Senior Management Stock Incentive Program (the Plan), each eligible participant is awarded RSUs with a dollar value equal to

10%

of the participant’s base salary, up to an annual maximum of

$17,500.

The RSUs have a

five

-year vesting period and the RSUs will convert into the right to receive shares of common stock upon a participant’s retirement, or earlier upon the participant’s death or disability or upon a change in control of the Company.

Under the Plan, the Company awards RSUs to newly-appointed executive officers, based upon a percentage of their base salary. Upon Mr. Marabito’s promotion to Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Manson’s promotion to Chief Financial Officer on

January 1, 2019,

they received

51,506

RSUs and

14,891

RSUs, respectively. Upon Mr. Greiff’s promotion to President and Chief Operating Officer on

January 1, 2020,

he received

15,694

RSUs. The RSUs will vest

five

years from the grant date, or earlier upon death or disability or upon a change in control of the Company.

Stock-based compensation expense recognized on RSUs for the

three

months ended

March 31, 2020

and

2019,

respectively, is summarized in the following table:

	For the Three Months Ended
	March 31,
(in thousands, except per share data)	2020		2019
RSU expense before taxes	$	360	$	275
RSU expense after taxes	$	269	$	200

All pre-tax charges related to RSUs were included in the caption “Administrative and general” on the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income.

The following table summarizes the activity related to RSUs for the

three

months ended

March 31, 2020

and

2019,

respectively:

	As of March 31, 2020					As of March 31, 2019
	Number of			Weighted Average		Number of		Weighted Average
	Shares			Granted Price		Shares		Granted Price
Outstanding at December 31		636,086		$	19.25		527,546	$	20.65
Granted		70,588			11.92		156,562		17.40
Converted into shares		(5,329	)		15.94		-		-
Forfeited		(494	)		27.31		-		-
Outstanding at March 31		700,851		$	18.53		684,108	$	19.91
Vested at March 31		445,781		$	20.22		515,778	$	20.41

Of the RSUs granted in

2019,

62,229

were used to fund supplemental executive retirement plan (SERP) contributions. The Company chose to fund the SERP in

2020

with cash rather than RSUs.