Managing stock-based compensation in private companies

If you are an employee of a private company, part of your compensation may be paid in stock, restricted stock units, stock options, or other company securities. Since your company is private there often is no good way to convert that stock or option into cash until there is a liquidity event (usually a recapitalization, a sale of the company, or going public). 

However, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing you can do to maximize the value of your stock-based compensation. No matter what strategy you consider, it is important to make sure to be compliant with SEC rules and your company’s policies. READ MORE

Implications of the SEC’s Final Executive Compensation Recovery Rule

Whereas companies were able to implement other Dodd-Frank compensation-related rules without fundamentally changing their pay plans (such as the CEO pay ratio disclosure requirements), the clawback rule requires the NYSE and NASDAQ to update their listing standards and issuers to adopt a specific policy that affects the amount of compensation executives will ultimately take home. The rule was published in the Federal Register on November 28, 20221, and exchanges have 90 days to publish their revised listing standards to – be effective no later than November 28, 2023. READ MORE

A roundup on the state of compensation strategy

A whirlwind couple of years — from steep COVID-19 layoffs to a hiring frenzy to a recession on the horizon — may have left both employers and workers dizzy in trying to interpret compensation trends. But while hiring freezes and a rash of layoffs across tech and a few other industries may have employees nervous, research by groups like WTW and Salary.com suggest pay will keep going up — and at record levels. READ MORE

Only about 1 in 3 people think their pay is fair, but it’s not about the money—here’s what they’re missing in their workplace

If bosses thought keeping employees happy with their salaries was about the money, there’s actually more to it than that.

Only one-third of workers in the U.S. think that they are getting fair pay, according to a new study from Gartner, a consulting firm, which surveyed 3,523 people between April and June. But the study also found how employees viewed their pay was closely linked to how much they trust their organization. READ MORE

In times of economic stress, pay practices take a front row seat

It’s no surprise that pay is now the most important factor in satisfaction at work. This is according to Mercer’s 2022 Inside Employees’ Minds study, which surveyed more than 4,000 full-time employees working in organizations with 250 or more employees.

The 8.2 year-over-year rate of inflation has eroded any wage gains seen over the past two or three years. Consequently, the study shows that employees are currently much more focused on their financial health, as compared to results in 2021. The 2022 study showed that meeting monthly expenses, having the ability to retire and personal debt are now among employees’ greatest concerns. READ MORE

Should We Link Pay To ESG Measures?

According to this report by The Conference Board, in collaboration with Semler Brossy and ESGAUGE, the vast majority (73% in 2021) of companies in the S&P 500 are “now tying executive compensation to some form of ESG performance.” To be sure, some companies have long tied executive comp to particular ESG measures, such as diversity, customer satisfaction, employee and product safety and anticorruption programs. That has now expanded to a wider use of various ESG metrics, which the report attributes to a new intensified focus on ESG “driven by investors, employees, consumers, business partners, ESG rating agencies, and regulators,” together with “the shift to a multi-stakeholder form of capitalism.” The expanded use of ESG measures in executive compensation offers the obvious benefit of incentivizing and rewarding behaviors needed to achieve goals that so many stakeholders view as critical. READ MORE

What You Should Know About A Compensation Consultant

It can be hard to get an easy answer for employee compensation. This is true for businesses of all sizes and shapes. Whether you are increasing your operations and facing employee retention problems or simply intend to audit and re-evaluate what you offer your employees, the right employee compensation is crucial. The problems in that compensation needs are always changing. Therefore, to stay competitive and find the best talent, you need to check the economy and the job market to find similar positions. READ MORE

Employees Are Using Job Offers to Win Big Raises From Their Employers

When Michelle Reisdorf started off in the recruiting business 26 years ago, it was pretty much a given that people who interviewed for a new job would take it, assuming they got the right offer. But these days, Reisdorf has found, that's no longer true. More and more, candidates are applying for jobs with no intention of jumping ship. They're just looking to land an offer that they can use to force their current employer to give them a raise. READ MORE

Fewer than one-third of employees believe their pay is fair

Poor communication and transparency may be the biggest culprits behind workers’ suspicions regarding a lack of fair pay. Gartner itself noted this in its press release, pointing to findings from a May survey of workers that found only 38% understood how their pay was determined, and fewer than half consulted co-workers about pay or used third-party pay sites to analyze their salary. READ MORE

Remote work options are still surging among high-paying jobs

Positions that allow remote work continue their upward incline: According to data from Ladders, a career site for positions that pay $100,000 or more, 36% of all professional jobs are now remote. That’s a huge jump over the past couple of years. Prior to the pandemic, only about 4% of high-paying jobs were available remotely. By the end of 2021, that jumped to 18% and now, at the end of 2022, that number has doubled. READ MORE

What’s Driving the Record Number of Say-on-Pay Failures This Proxy Season?

The 2022 proxy voting season sees say-on-pay failures at an all-time high, according to a recent article by Willis Towers Watson. As of Sept. 30, 2022, there were 78 say-on-pay failures for companies in the Russell 3000, an increase over last year’s previous record of 71. The increase indicates that pay adjustments made during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic are starting to get a heavy degree of scrutiny. We spoke with Brian Myers, governance team lead, North America, and director of executive compensation at Willis Towers Watson, to explore the factors contributing to a record number of say-on-pay failures, shareholder preferences on performance-based incentives and more. READ MORE

Should we link pay to ESG measures?

According to this report by The Conference Board, in collaboration with Semler Brossy and ESGAUGE, the vast majority (73% in 2021) of companies in the S&P 500 are “now tying executive compensation to some form of ESG performance.” To be sure, some companies have long tied executive comp to particular ESG measures, such as diversity, customer satisfaction, employee and product safety and anticorruption programs. READ MORE

How salary benchmarking by employers affects workers’ pay

A wave of pay transparency laws aimed at reducing inequities is giving millions of workers access for the first time to information on what co-workers make and what potential employers will offer.

Yet comparing salary information is nothing new for employers. While U.S. antitrust law prohibits employers from directly sharing salary information with each other, most mid-sized and large companies routinely use aggregated data from third parties to get a read on the going rates.  READ MORE