Document:

EX-10.18

Exhibit 10.18

ADDENDUM TO EXECUTIVE RETENTION AND SEVERANCE AGREEMENTS

RELATING TO SECTION 409A OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE

     Introduction

     Deluxe Corporation, a Minnesota corporation (the “Company”) and the executive named below (the
“Executive”) are parties to an Executive Retention Agreement (the “Retention Agreement”) dated
                    , 200   .

     The Compensation Committee of the Company has approved this Addendum to each of the Retention
Agreements for the purpose of insuring that the benefits provided under the Retention Agreement
will be paid in a manner that complies with Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and the IRS
regulations thereunder (“Section 409A”). If this Addendum is accepted by the Executive, it shall
become part of the Retention Agreement. Acceptance of the Addendum is completely voluntary on the
part of each Executive, and an Executive’s failure to accept the Addendum will not in any way
affect his rights under the Retention Agreement. However, an Executive who fails to accept the
Addendum by December 31, 2008, may be subject to tax penalties under Section 409A, for which the
Company will have no responsibility.

     If the Company and the Executive are parties to more than one Executive Retention Agreement,
this Addendum, if accepted by the Executive, shall apply to each such Executive Retention
Agreement. In addition, if the Company and the Executive are parties to either an employment
agreement or a letter agreement (a “Severance Agreement”) providing for the payment of severance to
the Executive if the Executive’s employment is terminated under certain circumstances prior to the
Effective Date as defined in the Retention Agreement, certain provisions of this Addendum shall
also apply to the Severance Agreement.

     The Company and the Executive agree that the payment of the benefits provided in the Retention
Agreement shall be governed by the following rules:

     1. If the Executive wishes to elect to defer the receipt of any Annual Incentive Payment
pursuant to the last sentence of Section III.B.2, such election shall be made prior to the
beginning of the fiscal year for the Annual Incentive Payment in accordance with the Deluxe
Corporation Deferred Compensation Plan (2008 Restatement) (the “Deferred Compensation Plan”), and
such deferral election shall be otherwise governed by the terms of the Deferred Compensation Plan.

     2. Any reimbursement of medical expenses (including dental, prescription, vision, or similar
expenses) incurred by the Executive or his dependents pursuant to continued coverage of the
Executive after the Date of Termination pursuant to Section V.A.2, V.B. or V.C shall be paid to the
Executive or dependent not later than the end of the year following the year in which such expense
is incurred. This provision is intended to establish the latest possible date for payment as
required by Section 409A, and shall not be interpreted to justify delaying any reimbursement beyond
the date it would normally have been paid.

 

 

     3. If there is a dispute concerning the reason for a termination of employment pursuant to
Section IV. F. the following rules shall apply:

     (a) The Executive shall take prompt and reasonable, good faith efforts to collect the amount
of benefits that the Executive claims under the Retention Agreement. The Executive shall accept
any partial payment offered by the Company, but only if such payment may be accepted without
prejudicing the Executive’s claim to the balance of the amount claimed. The Executive shall
commence appropriate action to collect the amount claimed not later than 180 days after the date
the notice is given that a dispute exists. The failure of the Executive to take any such
enforcement action shall not prejudice the Executive’s right to the benefits claimed under the
Retention Agreement, but may result in adverse tax consequences for the Executive pursuant to
Section 409A.

     (b) Any benefit the payment of which was delayed beyond the date on which it would otherwise
have been paid because of the dispute shall be paid not later than the last day of the year in
which the dispute is resolved (or such earlier date as may be specified in the agreement or
judgment resolving the dispute.

     (c) Each payment of compensation paid to the Executive during the dispute pursuant to Section
IV.G shall be treated as a separate payment for all purposes of Section 409A.

     4. Any Gross-Up Payment to which the Executive is entitled pursuant to Section VIII shall be
paid to the Executive not later than the end of the year following the year in which the Executive
pays the Excise Tax upon which the Gross-Up Payment is based. This provision is intended to
establish the latest possible date for payment as required by Section 409A, and shall not be
interpreted to justify delaying any Gross-Up Payment beyond the date it would normally have been
paid.

     5. If the Executive is also party to a Severance Agreement, the following provisions shall
apply:

     (a) Each payment of severance pursuant to the Severance Agreement shall be treated as a
separate payment for all purposes of Section 409A.

     (b) All severance payable under the Severance Agreement shall in any event be paid not later
than the end of the second year following the year in which the Executive’s employment is
terminated. This provision is intended to establish the latest possible date for payment as
required by Section 409A, and shall not be interpreted to justify delaying any payment of severance
beyond the date it would normally have been paid.

     (c) Any separation and release agreement referred to in the Severance Agreement must be signed
early enough so that the seven day revocation period after the Executive signs the agreement and
release will expire prior to March 15 of the year following the year that includes the Termination
Date. The Company will furnish the agreement and release to the Executive so that the Executive
has sufficient time to consider and sign the agreement and release. Upon the expiration of the
revocation period without rescission of the agreement or the release by the Executive, any payments
that would have previously been paid during those periods under the

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Company’s payroll schedule shall be paid to the Executive in a lump sum, and all subsequent
payments shall be made in accordance with the normal payroll schedule.

     (d) If any portion of the severance the Executive becomes entitled to receive under the
Retention Agreement constitutes a substitute, within the meaning of Section 409A, for payments the
Executive would have been entitled to receive under the Severance Agreement which constitute a form
of deferred compensation subject to Section 409A, and if the Executive’s Termination of Employment
does not occur within two years following a transaction that constitutes a “change in control
event” as defined in Section 409A, such portion shall be paid at the same time and in the same
manner as provided in the Severance Agreement.

     6. If the Executive is a Key Employee at the time of his Termination of Employment, each of
the amounts listed below that would otherwise have been paid within six months following his
Termination of Employment shall instead be paid on the first business day following the day that is
six months after his Termination of Employment. For purposes of this Addendum, the terms
“Termination of Employment” and “Key Employee” shall have the same meaning as in the Deferred
Compensation Plan.

     (a) Any “Other Benefits” payable pursuant to Section V.A.5, and any welfare benefits payable
pursuant to Section V.A.2 that are neither medical benefits nor a form of disability pay nor death
benefit as defined in Section 409A, but only to the extent that the total value of all such
benefits exceeds $5,000.

     (b) Any continued payments of compensation payable during a dispute pursuant to Section IV.G,
or any payments of severance pursuant to the Severance Agreement, but only if such payments are
payable after March 15 of the year following the year that includes the Date of Termination, and
only to the extent that the total value of all such payments paid after such date exceeds two times
the lesser of the Executive’s base salary on the last day of the year preceding the year that
includes the Date of Termination or the compensation limit under Section 401(a)(17) of the Code for
the year that includes the Date of Termination.

     (c) Any Gross-Up Payment to which the Executive is entitled pursuant to Section VIII, if the
Gross-Up Payment would not have been payable if the Executive had not had a Termination of
Employment.

     (d) Any other amount if the Committee determines in good faith that such deferral of payment
is required by Section 409A.

     7. Any taxable benefit payable under the Retention Agreement for which no other time of
payment is specified shall be paid not later than the last day of the year in which the Executive’s
right to such payment is fixed and determinable, or, if such benefit constitutes a right to
reimbursement, the last day of the year following the year in which the reimbursable expense in
incurred. Except for medical expenses, any limit on the Executive’s right to receive taxable
reimbursement payments or in-kind benefits in any year shall not be affected by the amount of
payments or benefits received in any other year.

     8. The purpose of this Addendum is solely to establish the time and form of payment of certain
benefits otherwise payable under the Retention Agreement in the manner required by

3

 

Section 409A. Nothing in this Addendum shall be interpreted to either reduce or increase the
amount of benefits to which the Executive is entitled. The Committee shall to the maximum extent
permitted by law interpret the Agreement, and make all benefit payments, in a manner that satisfies
the requirements of Section 409A.

     The undersigned Executive hereby voluntarily accepts the terms of this Addendum, which upon
such acceptance shall form part of the Retention Agreement (and Severance Agreement if applicable).

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	EXECUTIVE:
	 
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 
	 

	 	Name:	 	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	Dated Signed:	 	 	 	 
	 

	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 

4EX-10.20

Exhibit 10.20

DELUXE CORPORATION

2008 ANNUAL INCENTIVE PLAN

AGREEMENT FOR AWARDS PAYABLE IN RESTRICTED STOCK UNITS

     Pursuant to and in accordance with the Deluxe Corporation 2008 Annual Incentive Plan, you may
elect to receive all or a portion of any annual incentive award payment for the 2009 plan year (if
and when declared and awarded, which typically occurs in the following year) in Restricted Stock
Units (“Units”). Each Unit will entitle you to acquire one share of the common stock, par value
$1.00 (“Common Stock”), of Deluxe Corporation (the “Corporation”), when the restrictions applicable
to each Unit expire or terminate (“lapse”) as provided below. Such election must be made not later
than the last day prior to the beginning of the 2009 plan year and may not be revoked or changed
after such date.

     The portion of your cash incentive award that you elect to apply to the acquisition of Units
(“Base Amount”) will be increased by 50% (the Base Amount as so increased being referred to as the
“Unit Acquisition Amount”). The number of Units issued to you will equal the Unit Acquisition
Amount divided by the closing price of the Corporation’s Common Stock traded on the New York Stock
Exchange on the date such Units are issued (i.e., the date the incentive award payment is approved
by the Compensation Committee of the Board) as reported by The Wall Street Journal, Midwest
Edition. Fractional Units will be rounded down to the nearest whole Unit and any amount not
applied will be paid to you.

     You will receive dividend equivalent payments with respect to the Units until the restrictions
applicable to the Units lapse. You cannot sell or transfer the Units. Certificates representing
the Common Stock subject to the Units will not be issued until the restrictions lapse. The
dividend equivalent payments will be paid at the same time that dividends are paid to shareholders
of the Corporation.

     The restrictions will lapse and shares of Common Stock in exchange for the Units will be
issued on the second anniversary of the date the Units are issued to you (“Expiration Date”) if you
are then employed by the Corporation or any of its Affiliates (as hereinafter defined). You may
elect to have a portion of the shares otherwise issuable to you withheld to satisfy applicable tax
withholding requirements.

     Except as provided below, your rights in and to the Units shall terminate on the termination
date of your employment by any company in a group of companies consisting of the Corporation and
its Affiliates, which is not followed by your immediate re-employment by any other member of said
group, for any reason if that termination occurs prior to the Expiration Date. If your employment
is terminated prior to the Expiration Date by action of the Corporation or any Affiliate other than
for Cause (as hereinafter defined), you will receive a payment from the Corporation equal to the
Base Amount (less any applicable tax withholding), made as expeditiously as practicable, but not
more than 90 days, following the date of termination. If you voluntarily resign prior

 

 

to the Expiration Date, you will receive a payment from the Corporation equal to the lesser of (a)
the Base Amount or (b) an amount equal to the number of Units attributable to the Base Amount as of
the issue date multiplied by the closing price of the Corporation’s Common Stock on the effective
date of your resignation, which payment (less any applicable tax withholding) will be made as
expeditiously as practicable, but not more than 90 days, following the effective date of your
resignation.

     In order to satisfy the requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code and the IRS
regulations thereunder (“Section 409A”), the following provisions will apply. If your employment
is terminated prior to the Expiration Date, but the termination does not constitute a “separation
from service” as defined in Section 409A, then you will have the right to receive the payment
described in the preceding paragraph, but the payment will be deferred until the earliest of the
date on which you incur a separation from service as defined in Section 409A, the Expiration Date,
or the date on which a Change of Control of the Corporation (as hereinafter defined) occurs. This
could occur if, for example, your employment is terminated but you are retained as a consultant or
independent contractor to provide services to the Corporation or an Affiliate at a rate which is at
least 50% of the rate at which you were providing services as an employee. It is also possible
that you may incur a separation from service as defined in Section 409A even though your employment
has not been terminated, for example if you become a part-time employee and are providing services
at a rate that is less than 50% of the rate at which you provided services as a full-time employee.
If this were to occur you would receive a payment as described in the preceding paragraph
calculated as if your employment had been terminated by the Corporation without Cause. The
provisions of this paragraph shall also apply to the issuance of shares to which you are entitled
upon your Approved Retirement as provided in the next paragraph if your Approved Retirement does
not constitute a separation from service.

     Prior to the Expiration Date, all restrictions applicable to the Units shall lapse and the
Units shall vest fully in and the shares of Common Stock represented thereby will be issued to you
or your heirs, executors, administrators, estate or representatives, as applicable as expeditiously
as practicable, but not more than 90 days, after your death, Disability or Approved Retirement (as
such terms are hereinafter defined).

     Prior to the Expiration Date, all restrictions applicable to the Units shall lapse and the
Units shall vest fully in and the shares of Common Stock represented thereby will be issued to you,
subject to the limitations provided herein, if there shall occur a Change of Control of the
Corporation. Such issuance shall be made as expeditiously as practicable, but not more than 90
days, following the Change of Control. If as a result of the Change of Control shares of Common
Stock are converted into another form of property, such as stock of a company with which the
Corporation is merged, or into the right to a cash payment, then in lieu of the shares of Common
Stock you will receive the cash or other property that you would have received had you owned the
shares of Common Stock immediately prior to the Change of Control.

     Notwithstanding any other provision of this Award Agreement, if you are a “specified employee”
as defined in Section 409A at the time any amount becomes payable to you by reason of a separation
from service as defined in Section 409A (including an Approved Retirement), such payment shall be
deferred until the first

 

 

business day that is more than six months following the date of such separation from service
(or, if earlier, the date of your death). In general, “specified employees” are the 50 most highly
compensated officers and policy-making personnel of the Corporation and its Affiliates.

     For the purposes hereof, the terms used herein shall have the following meanings:

     “Approved Retirement” shall mean any voluntary termination of employment on or after the date
on which the sum of your age and years of employment with the Corporation and/or its Affiliates
equals at least seventy-five (75) with the approval of the Compensation Committee of the
Corporation’s Board of Directors, or any other termination of employment that the Compensation
Committee of the Corporation’s Board of Directors should determine qualifies as an approved
retirement.

     “Disability” shall mean that you are suffering from a medically determinable physical or
mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a
continuous period of not less than twelve months, and that as a result of such impairment either:

	 	(i)	 	you have received disability benefits for a period of not less than three
months under a long or short-term disability plan or policy (or both), and are
eligible for benefits under the long-term disability plan of the Corporation or any
Affiliate of which you are employed at the time of such disability; or
	 
	 	(ii)	 	in the event that your employer does not have a long-term disability plan in
effect at such time, you are unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity.

     “Cause” shall mean:

	 	(i)	 	You have breached your obligations of confidentiality to the Corporation or
any of its Affiliates;
	 
	 	(ii)	 	You have otherwise failed to perform your employment duties and do not cure
such failure within thirty (30) days after receipt of specific written notice thereof;
	 
	 	(iii)	 	You commit an act, or omit to take action, in bad faith which results in
material detriment to the Corporation or any of its Affiliates;
	 
	 	(iv)	 	You have had excessive absences unrelated to illness or vacation (“excessive”
shall be defined in accordance with local employment customs);
	 
	 	(v)	 	You have committed fraud, misappropriation, embezzlement or other act of
dishonesty in connection with the Corporation or any of its Affiliates or its or their
businesses;

 

 

	 	(vi)	 	You have been convicted or have pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to criminal
misconduct constituting a felony or a gross misdemeanor, which gross misdemeanor
involves a breach of ethics, moral turpitude, or immoral or other conduct reflecting
adversely upon the reputation or interest of the Corporation or its Affiliates;
	 
	 	(vii)	 	Your use of narcotics, liquor or illicit drugs has had a detrimental effect
on performance of employment responsibilities; or
	 
	 	(viii)	 	You are in default under any agreement between you and the Corporation or any of its
Affiliates.

     A “Change of Control” shall be deemed to have occurred if a “change in control event” occurs
with respect to the Corporation as defined in Section 409A.

     “Affiliate” shall mean a company controlled directly or indirectly by the Corporation, where
“control” shall mean the right, either directly or indirectly, to elect a majority of the directors
thereof without the consent or acquiescence of any third party.

     For all purposes of this Award Agreement “separation from service”, “specified employee”, and
“change in control event” and shall have the meanings set forth in Treasury Regulations
§1.409A-1(h), §1.409A-1(i), and §1.409A-3(i)(5), respectively, without regard to any of the
optional provisions set forth in such regulations, except that:

	 	(i)	 	for purposes of Treas. Reg. §1.409A-1(h)(1)(ii), an employee shall be
considered to have incurred a separation from service on the date on which it is
reasonably anticipated that the level of bona fide services the employee will perform
after such date (whether as an employee or as an independent contractor) will
permanently decrease to less than 50 percent of the average level of bona fide
services performed (whether as an employee or an independent contractor) over the
immediately preceding 36-month period (or the full period of services to the employer
if the employee has been providing services to the employer less than 36 months); and
	 
	 	(ii)	 	for purposes of identifying specified employees the safe harbor definition of
compensation contained in Treas. Reg. §1.415(c)-2(d)(4) (compensation required to be
reported on Form W-2 plus elective deferrals) shall be used, and compensation paid to
a nonresident alien that is not effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or
business within the United States shall be excluded.

     This Award Agreement and the award of Units and the issuance of shares of Common Stock
hereunder are subject to and governed by the provisions of the Corporation’s 2008 Annual Incentive
Plan and 2008 Stock Incentive Plan. In the event there are any inconsistencies between this Award
Agreement or those plans, the provisions of the applicable plan shall govern, as it may be amended
or interpreted at the Company’s discretion, to meet any applicable requirements of Section 409A.
To the

 

 

maximum extent permitted by law, this Award Agreement shall be construed in a manner
that complies with Section 409A.

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