Share Repurchase Programs

On October 21, 2021, our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program of $300.0 million. Under this repurchase program, the Company may repurchase shares of its common stock from time to time on the open market or in privately negotiated transactions. We are not obligated to repurchase any shares under this program. Repurchases of common stock may also be made under Rule 10b5- 1 plans, which would permit common stock to be repurchased when the Company might otherwise be precluded from doing so under insider trading laws. The timing, volume and nature of share repurchases will be at the sole discretion of management, dependent on market conditions, applicable securities laws and other factors, and may be suspended or discontinued at any time.

During the three months ended March 31, 2022, the Company repurchased 2.1 million shares, at a total cost, including brokerage fees, of $131.8 million, for an average repurchase price per share of $62.86. There were no share repurchases during the three months ended March 31, 2021.

The dividends declared by the Board of Directors and reflected in the periods presented are:

We account for share-based awards exchanged for employee services in accordance with the authoritative accounting guidance for share-based payments. Under the guidance, share-based compensation expense is measured at the grant date, based on the estimated fair value of the award, and is recognized as expense, net of estimated forfeitures, over the employee's requisite service period.

The following table provides classification detail of the total costs related to our share-based employee compensation plans reported in our condensed consolidated statements of operations.

Our stock incentive plan provides for the issuance of Performance Share Units ("PSU") grants which may be earned, in whole or in part, upon passage of time and the attainment of performance criteria. We periodically review our estimates of performance against the defined criteria to assess the expected payout of each outstanding PSU grant and adjust our stock compensation expense accordingly.

The PSU grants awarded in fourth quarter 2018 and 2017 fully vested during first quarter 2022 and 2021, respectively. Common shares were issued based on the determination by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of our actual achievement of net revenue growth, Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") growth and customer service scores for the three-year performance period of each grant. As provided under the provisions of our stock incentive plan, certain of the participants elected to surrender a portion of the shares to be received to pay the withholding and other payroll taxes payable on the compensation resulting from the vesting of the PSUs.

The PSU grant awarded in November 2018 resulted in a total of 408,609 shares being issued during first quarter 2022, representing approximately 1.58 shares per PSU. Of the 408,609 shares issued, a total of 114,265 were surrendered by the participants for payroll taxes, resulting in a net issuance of 294,344 shares due to the vesting of the 2018 grant. The actual achievement level under the award metrics equaled the estimated performance as of the year-end 2021; therefore, the vesting of the PSUs did not impact compensation costs in our 2022 condensed consolidated statement of operations.

The PSU grant awarded in November 2017 resulted in a total of 90,444 shares being issued during first quarter 2021, representing approximately 0.33 shares per PSU. Of the 90,444 shares issued, a total of 30,129 were surrendered by the participants for payroll taxes, resulting in a net issuance of 60,315 shares due to the vesting of the 2017 grant. The actual achievement level under the award metrics equaled the estimated performance as of the year-end 2020; therefore, the vesting of the PSUs did not impact compensation costs in our 2021 condensed consolidated statement of operations.

As of March 31, 2022, there was approximately $19.5 million, $9.1 million and $1.9 million of total unrecognized share-based compensation costs related to unvested restricted stock units ("RSUs"), PSUs and career shares, respectively. As of March 31, 2022, the unrecognized share-based compensation costs related to our RSUs, PSUs and career shares are expected to be recognized over approximately 2.4 years, 2.4 years and 3.8 years, respectively.