Kodak seeks court approval of $13.5 million employee continuity plan

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, April 4 - Eastman Kodak Co. requested court approval of a $13.5 million employee continuity program, according to a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

The company said it has preliminarily allocated $8.5 million in awards to 119 group one participants under the program, and the $5 million balance would be available for subsequent awards to group two participants.

According to the motion, the typical group one participant would receive an award equal to 35% of his or her base salary, and the typical group two participant would receive an award equal to 25% or less of his or her base salary.

Kodak said group one is comprised of 119 employees at the middle manager level and above, excluding insiders.

Meanwhile, group two is expected to be comprised of at least 200 employees, although the company said the unallocated balance of the continuity plan gives it the flexibility to identify and reward group two employees on an as-needed basis during the Chapter 11 cases.

The company said it expects non-insider manager-level participation to be limited.

Participants are selected based on two sets of pre-established criteria, with the first set related to Kodak's business needs and the second set to external marketability, the motion said.

The company said all group one participants were scored as critical under at least one set of the criteria and high or critical on the other. Group two participants would be evaluated using the same criteria.

A hearing is scheduled for April 18.

Kodak is a Rochester, N.Y.-based imaging technology products and services provider to the photographic and graphic communications markets. The company filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 19. Its Chapter 11 case number is 12-10202.

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