<PAGE>

                                                                    Exhibit 10.3

         The Company, with the approval of the United States Bankruptcy Court
for the Northern District of West Virginia, has adopted a Key Employee Retention
Program. The following is submitted as a summary of the program:

        A. STAY BONUS PLAN

        1. The Stay Bonus Plan is designed for the purpose of retaining key
management personnel and critical skill employees during the pendency of the
Company's chapter 11 case. The Stay Bonus Plan includes nine (9) individuals
divided into three (3) tiers.

        2. The Stay Bonus Plan is necessary because (i) the value of employees'
compensation packages has eroded; (ii) performance-based bonuses have not been
paid in any of the past three years; and (iii) as a result of a pre-petition and
a post-petition reduction in the salaried workforce and the chapter 11 filing by
Weirton, many key employees are subject to employment demands and burdens that
persons in comparable positions at companies not subject to bankruptcy
proceedings do not face.

        3. Under the Stay Bonus Plan, an employee in the Stay Bonus Plan will be
eligible for a total stay bonus payment ranging from 45% to 50% of his current
base salary ("Stay Bonus Payment"). The Stay Bonus Payment will be earned in
four installments (each a "Payment Date") as follows: (i) 25% paid upon Court
approval of the Retention Program; (ii) 25% paid on the six (6) month
anniversary of the Retention Program; (iii) 25% paid on the twelve (12) month
anniversary of approval of Weirton's Petition Date; and (iv) 25% paid upon
confirmation of a plan of reorganization relating to Weirton. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, the entire unearned and unpaid portion of each covered employee's
Stay Bonus Payment shall be earned and payable upon the earlier to occur of (i)
the effective date of a confirmed chapter 11 plan in this case ("Plan Effective
Date"), or (ii) the closing of a sale of all or substantially all of the
Debtor's assets ("Sale Closing Date").

                                       1

<PAGE>

        4. The right of each covered employee to receive each installment of the
Stay Bonus Payment will be based solely on the employee's continued employment
with Weirton as of the date each Stay Bonus Payment installment vests and
becomes payable on the applicable Payment Date, Plan Effective Date, or Sale
Closing Date, as the case may be. In the event of an employee's death,
disability, termination for cause, or voluntary resignation, such employee will
forfeit any remaining or unpaid Stay Bonus Payment. Any covered employee who is
involuntarily terminated, not for cause, prior to any specified Payment Date and
prior to a Plan Effective Date and a Sale Closing Date will receive a pro rata
payout of his Stay Bonus Payment for the portion of the stay period during which
such employee was employed. Employees who are not employed by Weirton at the
time of Court approval of the Retention Plan will be entitled to payments under
the Stay Bonus Plan on a pro rata basis at management's sole discretion.


        5. Weirton currently anticipates that no more than nine (9) key
employees will be eligible for the Stay Bonus Plan. The estimated maximum amount
of Stay Bonus Payments for a base of nine (9) key employees is approximately
$666,000, or on average, approximately $74,000 per eligible individual.

        6. The Stay Bonus Plan will substitute and supercede any pre-petition
retention benefits that otherwise would be applicable to any of Weirton's key
employees pursuant to contract or otherwise. All employees participating in the
Stay Bonus Plan must, by written waiver and release, forfeit any rights or
entitlements with respect to retention-type benefits that such employee may have
at law or under any prior employment or retention agreements, or Company
programs.

        B. SEVERANCE PLAN

                                       2

<PAGE>

        7. Prior to the Petition Date, Weirton did not have established a
severance program for salaried employees, but instead, severance was
contractually provided to several key employees pursuant to employment
agreements in existence as of the Petition Date.

        8. If Weirton is unable to assure employees that it will make severance
payments, employee attrition may increase as a result of the concern that
employees could be terminated without any post-employment protection. The
estimated cost to be incurred for proposed severance payments is significantly
less than the cost of unwanted attrition and is well within the range of costs
incurred for similar benefits by comparable chapter 11 debtors.

        9. Under the Severance Plan, the nine (9) key employees will be entitled
to be paid severance benefits in an amount ranging from 6 to 24 months of base
salary, plus the cost of current health benefits for the duration of the
severance period.)

        10. The Severance Plan provides for severance benefits only to (i) those
key employees who are involuntarily terminated without cause by Weirton in
connection with a Plan of Reorganization ("Plan") or a sale of all or
substantially all of the Debtor's assets ("Sale"), and (ii) those key employees
who voluntarily terminate employment with the Debtor because they decline to
accept an employment offer from the reorganized debtor in connection with a Plan
or a purchaser in connection with a Sale where such employment offer is either
at a different location or provides for salary and benefits that are not at
least substantially similar to the employee's terms of employment with Weirton.
Severance benefits also include the following additional limitations: (a)
severance is calculated on base salary only, (b) there is no mitigation of cash
benefits, (c) cash severance benefits to be paid as a lump sum, and (d) cost of
current health benefits to be paid for period equal to severance period,
subject, however, to mitigation.

        11. Except as set forth above to the contrary, employees who voluntarily
terminate employment with Weirton will not be entitled to severance benefits.
Employees who are involuntarily terminated (other than for cause) pursuant to a
divestiture of the Company will be

                                       3

<PAGE>


entitled to a single lump sum payment if not retained by the new organization on
the transition date associated with the divestiture.

        12. The maximum cost of the Severance Program will be approximately
$1,582,000.


        C. CEO DISCRETIONARY FUND

        13. Weirton will establish a CEO Discretionary Pool of $625,000 for use,
in the sole discretion of Weirton's CEO, to retain selected individuals not
otherwise covered by the Stay Bonus Plan or for any unforeseen retention needs
that may arise during the restructuring period.

             -----------------------------------------------------


         More recently the Company, with the approval of the United States
Bankruptcy Court has modified the Key Employee Retention Program. The following
summary reflects the modified program:

         The Modified Retention Program still includes a Stay Bonus Plan, a
Severance Plan and a CEO Discretionary Pool. However, under the Modified
Retention Program, those components will be altered as follows:

        (i)     the number of participants in the Stay Bonus Plan will be
                reduced from 9 to 7;

        (ii)    the severance benefits of one individual will be reduced from 24
                months of base salary and medical benefits to 12 months of base
                salary and medical benefits; and

        (iii)   the CEO Discretionary Pool will be increased by $75,000 to a
                total of $700,000.

The table below demonstrates the change in the amounts of potential payments to
be made as a result of the above changes to each part of the Retention Program:

                                       4

<PAGE>



<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                  STAY BONUS             SEVERANCE PLAN         CEO DISCRETIONARY       TOTAL
                  PLAN                     (MAXIMUM              POOL (MAXIMUM)
                                           PAYMENTS)
<S>                   <C>               <C>                       <C>               <C>
APPROVED                $666,000          $1,582,000                $625,000          $2,873,000
RETENTION
PROGRAM

MODIFIED                $478,000          $1,345,000                $700,000          $2,523,000
RETENTION
PROGRAM

COST                   ($188,000)          ($237,000)                $75,000           ($350,000)
REDUCTION OR
INCREASE
</TABLE>



                                       5