Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

12.Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Our employees participate in the DISH Network employee stock purchase plan (the “ESPP”), in which we are authorized to issue up to 2.8 million shares of Class A common stock.  At December 31, 2016, we had 1.0 million shares of Class A common stock which remain available for issuance under the ESPP.  Substantially all full-time employees who have been employed by us for at least one calendar quarter are eligible to participate in the ESPP.  Employee stock purchases are made through payroll deductions.  Under the terms of the ESPP, employees may not deduct an amount which would permit such employee to purchase our capital stock under all of our stock purchase plans at a rate which would exceed $25,000 in fair value of capital stock in any one year.  The purchase price of the stock is 85% of the closing price of the Class A common stock on the last business day of each calendar quarter in which such shares of Class A common stock are deemed sold to an employee under the ESPP.  During the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, employee purchases of Class A common stock through the ESPP totaled approximately 0.2 million, 0.1 million and 0.1 million shares, respectively.

401(k) Employee Savings Plan

We sponsor a 401(k) Employee Savings Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) for eligible employees.  Voluntary employee contributions to the 401(k) Plan may be matched 50% by us, subject to a maximum annual contribution of $2,500 per employee.  Forfeitures of unvested participant balances which are retained by the 401(k) Plan may be used to fund matching and discretionary contributions.  Our Board of Directors may also authorize an annual discretionary contribution to the 401(k) plan, subject to the maximum deductible limit provided by the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.  These contributions may be made in cash or in our stock.

The following table summarizes the expense associated with our matching contributions and discretionary contributions:

	For the Years Ended December 31,
Expense Recognized Related to the 401(k) Plan	2016		2015		2014
		(In thousands)
Total matching contributions, net of forfeitures	$	6,546	$	6,145	$	6,222
Discretionary stock contributions, net of forfeitures	$	23,158	$	25,261	$	25,972