Our ESOP is real ownership

The stock held in your Employee Stock Ownership (ESOP) account represents part ownership of PLS. The stock is held in a trust fund. You receive the fair market value when you are eligible to receive a distribution after you leave employment. You earn the right to additional contributions each full calendar year you work for PLS and meet the eligibility criteria. The PLS ESOP has both long and short-term benefits for our employees.

Short term benefits of our ESOP

After leaving employment with PLS and having worked for just 2-5 years, a participant in the PLS ESOP is likely to have thousands of dollars that they could use to:

• Pay student loans
• Rollover into a qualifying plan with a future employer (tax free)
• Use as part of a down payment on a house or a car

If you are willing to pay the required taxes, you may choose to access the cash value of your vested balance after you leave employment. Smaller amounts are paid in a lump sum in the year after you leave employment. Below are a few examples of accounts for PLS employees who are in the early part of their careers.

Get a head start with long-term savings without using your own money

Most of us find it difficult to save for the future on our own. Our ESOP helps employees of PLS to build long-term savings and it is entirely funded by PLS. The ESOP provides younger employees with a good head start on long-term savings. While there are no guarantees with stock value, the more years you work for our company, the more annual contributions your account may receive. During your first year full calendar year, you earn a year of vesting. Starting in the second year, you earn allocations and gradually earn the right to take the value (non-forfeitable vested portion) with you when you leave employment with PLS.

So, what does employee owned really mean?

• As you give more to the clients and PLS, PLS is able to give more to you! After one year of being employed, staff can take part in our Employee Stock Ownership Plan, which is similar to a retirement plan, but much better!
• Since PLS is a 100% employee owned company (ESOP), you will receive stock on a yearly basis after your first year of employment. For the past few years, PLS has added between 8-10% of pay to employee accounts in our ESOP. This is well above the national average of about 2-4% of pay. PLS pays for all contributions to our ESOP. You earn ESOP contributions as a result of your employment with our company. Future contributions will be contingent upon ongoing company performance and may not reflect the aforementioned amounts.
• Full-time employees are eligible for company benefits such as Paid Time Off (PTO) and Health Insurance with an option for a Health Savings Account. Additional options of self-funded benefits include Dental, Vision, Aflac Plans, and Flex Spending.