The term "Covered" means the cost basis was reported to the IRS. Most likely the broker wouldn't report the cost basis when they were not confident that they knew what it was. That may be the case with an RSU since you may or may not have paid something to acquire it, so the cost basis may not be known or tracked by the broker. With stock options, the cost basis is simply the discount received when the stock was acquired or sometimes when sold, so it may be easier to track. That ties in to the cost basis reported on the Form 1099-B, the simplest way to determine it is to look at what the cost of the stock was to the buyer. But in the case of employee stock, the simple method often yields the wrong result.
With ESPP, the cost basis would be what you paid for the stock plus the discount reported on your W-2 form. You may have sold the stocks after they appreciated in value, so there would be more capital gain income than with RSU's that may have been sold to pay taxes at vesting, at virtually the cost that you recognized on your W-2 form.
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