Share-Based Compensation

Equity Commonwealth 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan

On January 26, 2016, the Board of Trustees approved an amendment to the 2015 Omnibus Incentive Plan (as amended, the 2015 Incentive Plan) to allow the Compensation Committee (Committee) to authorize in an award agreement a transfer of all or a part of certain equity awards not for value to a “family member” (as defined in the 2015 Incentive Plan).

Recipients of the Company’s restricted shares have the same voting rights as any other common shareholder. During the period of restriction, the Company’s unvested restricted shareholders are eligible to receive dividend payments on their shares at the same rate and on the same date as any other common shareholder. Recipients of the Company’s restricted stock units (RSUs) are entitled to receive dividends with respect to the common shares underlying the RSUs if and when the RSUs are earned, at which time the recipient will be entitled to receive an amount in cash equal to the aggregate amount of ordinary cash dividends that would have been paid in respect of the common shares underlying the recipient’s earned RSUs had such common shares been issued to the recipient on the first day of the performance period. To the extent that an award does not vest, the dividends will be forfeited.

2016 Equity Award Activity

On June 16, 2016, in accordance with the Company’s compensation plan for independent Trustees, the Committee awarded each of the nine independent Trustees $0.1 million in restricted shares as part of their compensation for the 2016-2017 year of service on the Board of Trustees. These awards equated to 3,463 shares per Trustee, for a total of 31,167 shares, valued at $28.88 per share, the closing price of our common shares on the NYSE on that day. These shares vest one year after the date of the award.

On January 26, 2016, the Committee approved a grant of 136,623 restricted common shares and 277,386 RSUs at target to the Company’s officers, certain employees and to Mr. Zell, the Chairman of our Board of Trustees, as part of their compensation for fiscal year 2015.

The restricted shares are service based awards and vest over a four-year period. The restricted shares were granted on January 26, 2016 and were valued at $26.93 per share, the closing price of our common shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on that day.

The RSUs are market based awards with a service condition and grant recipients may earn the RSU grants based on the Company’s total shareholder return (TSR) relative to the TSR's for the constituent REITs that comprise the NAREIT Office Index for the performance period of January 26, 2016 - January 26, 2019. Following the end of the performance period on January 26, 2019, the number of earned awards will be determined. The earned awards vest in two tranches with 50% of the earned award vesting on January 26, 2019 and the remaining 50% of the earned award vesting on January 26, 2020, subject to the grant recipient’s continued employment. Compensation expense for the RSU awards was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model and is being recognized ratably from the grant date to the vesting date of each tranche.

During the three and six months ended June 30, 2016, due to employee terminations, 539 restricted shares were forfeited with an average price per share value at grant date of $26.82, and 1,094 RSUs were forfeited with an average per share fair value at grant date of $38.72.

2015 Equity Award Activity

On June 16, 2015, in accordance with the Company’s compensation plan for independent Trustees, the Committee awarded each of the nine independent Trustees $0.1 million in restricted shares as part of their compensation for the 2015-2016 year of service on the Board of Trustees. These awards equated to 3,843 shares per Trustee, for a total of 34,587 shares, valued at $26.02 per share, the closing price of our common shares on the NYSE on that day. These shares vested one year after the date of the award.

On January 28, 2015, the Committee approved a grant of 126,319 restricted common shares and 256,467 RSUs at target to the Company’s officers, certain employees and to Mr. Zell, the Chairman of our Board of Trustees, as part of their compensation for fiscal year 2014.

The restricted shares are service based awards and vest over a four-year period. The restricted shares were granted on January 28, 2015 and were valued at $26.58 per share, the closing price of our common shares on the NYSE on that day.

The RSUs are market based awards with a service condition and grant recipients may earn the RSU grants based on the Company’s total shareholder return (TSR) relative to the TSR's for the constituent REITs that comprise the NAREIT Office Index for the performance period of January 28, 2015 - January 28, 2018. Following the end of the performance period on January 28, 2018, the number of earned awards will be determined. The earned awards vest in two tranches with 50% of the earned award vesting on January 28, 2018 and the remaining 50% of the earned award vesting on January 28, 2019, subject to the grant recipient’s continued employment. Compensation expense for the RSU awards was determined using a Monte Carlo simulation model and is being recognized ratably from the grant date to the vesting date of each tranche.

Outstanding Equity Awards

As of June 30, 2016, the estimated future compensation expense for all unvested restricted share grants was $15.8 million. Compensation expense for the restricted share awards is being recognized on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for each separately vesting portion of the award. The weighted average period over which the future compensation expense will be recorded for the restricted shares is approximately 2.5 years.

As of June 30, 2016, the estimated future compensation expense for all unvested RSUs was $25.3 million. The weighted average period over which the future compensation expense will be recorded for the RSUs is approximately 2.4 years.

The assumptions and fair values for the RSUs granted for the six months ended June 30, 2016 are included in the following table on a per share basis.



	2016
Fair value of RSUs granted	$	38.80
Expected term (years)	4
Expected volatility	—
Expected dividend yield	1.86		%
Risk-free rate	1.07		%

During the three months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, we recorded $4.6 million and $4.1 million, respectively, and during the six months ended June 30, 2016 and 2015, we recorded $9.0 million and $8.1 million, respectively, of compensation expense, net of forfeitures, in general and administrative expense for grants to our Board of Trustees and the Company's employees related to our Plan. At June 30, 2016, 2,358,464 common shares remain available for issuance under the Plan.