Summary of EMC INSURANCE GROUP INC

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors;
Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On January 30, 2009, the Registrant's Compensation Committee approved a change in one of the components utilized to determine executive bonuses under the Senior Executive Compensation Bonus Program effective January 1, 2009. Prior to 2009, each one percent decrease in the EMC Insurance Companies' statutory surplus generated a two percent decrease in the bonus calculation attributed to the "Change in Surplus" component of the program, subject to a maximum decrease of 20 percent. Beginning in 2009, each one percent decrease in statutory surplus will generate a one percent decrease in the bonus calculation attributed to this component, subject to the same maximum decrease of 20 percent.

This change was implemented to better balance the weighting of the components contained in the new Senior Executive Long Term Incentive Plan that became effective January 1, 2009 (filed on Form 8-K on November 6, 2008). The new long-term bonus plan incorporates the criteria and results of the Senior Executive Compensation Bonus Program on a rolling three year basis. Under the prior criteria, a large decrease in the "Change in Surplus" component in one bonus plan year would have carried twice as much negative weight in the long-term bonus calculation as an equally large increase in the "Change in Surplus" component in another bonus plan year. The excessive weighting placed on decreases in surplus was considered to be unfair and counterproductive, and the criteria were therefore revised so that equal weight is placed on both increases and decreases in surplus.

The Compensation Committee also determined that the "Change in Surplus" component for the 2008 bonus plan year that will be utilized in the long-term bonus plan calculation for calendar year 2009 will be determined using the new criteria.