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Job Events

Job Events examines the role of stock grants in hiring and salary negotiation, and the impact of job termination. Browse an overview of this section below, or explore the subtopics to the left.



  Articles   FAQs  

Strategies For Negotiating A Compensation Package In Down Markets This is premium content

Chris Murphy
NEW! A down market provides ideal circumstances for negotiating a larger stake of equity compensation as part of your pay package. With companies looking to conserve cash and find effective ways to recruit, retain, and motivate executives and key employees, your interest in this type of compensation may be well received. This article explores the possibilities you may want to consider if this opportunity arises.

Negotiating And Structuring Your Stock Compensation (Part 1): Key Documents This is premium content

Alisa J. Baker
You may find a gap between what you expect from your equity compensation and what you receive. Often the problem stems from the complexity of the related documents and rules. Learn about them, and understand why you must focus on conflicting or inconsistent provisions.

Negotiating And Structuring Your Stock Compensation (Part 2): Private Companies This is premium content

Alisa J. Baker
NEW! Part 1 looked at the problems of conflicting or inconsistent provisions among different documents. Part 2 discusses which existing documents and rules nonfounder executives must consider when negotiating for equity compensation during the early (pre-public) stages of a company's development and growth.

Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees (Part 1) This is premium content

Mark Miller
UPDATED! For employees and executives, international travel and relocation are increasingly common. The taxation of "mobile employees" is always complex, and never more than with equity compensation. Part 1 introduces the key concepts and rules, including the sourcing and apportioning of income.

Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees (Part 2) This is premium content

Mark Miller
International assignments or relocations can present attractive opportunities for career advancement. However, the taxation of equity compensation for mobile employees raises complex issues. Part 2 looks at specific scenarios, withholding taxes, and tax equalization.

Stock Option Terms: What You Can Expect This is premium content

Richard Friedman
UPDATED! Get a sense of what you should, and should not, expect in the terms of your stock option grant. This survey of 300 companies in 2007 looks at trends in vesting schedules, post-termination exercise rules, and other plan features (includes some details on restricted stock grants).

Understanding The Risks In Your Pre-IPO Stock Options (Part 1) This is premium content

Edwin L. Miller, Jr.
Understand what could happen to your stock options or restricted stock in venture capital financings, in an acquisition, or in an IPO. Part 1 looks at M&A deals; Part 2 analyzes IPOs.

What Are My Stock Options Worth? This is premium content

Richard Friedman
Your company just gave you a stock option grant, or your existing options are underwater. You wonder: "What are my stock options worth? Are they worth anything at all?" Learn about different valuation methods, including Black-Scholes.

Prepare Cushion For Layoffs

Kathleen Pender
San Francisco Chronicle
Companies are not required to tell departing employees how many vested options they have and how long they have to exercise them. Along with rules for your other employee benefits, you need to know post-termination option-exercise rules.

How Does Your Company's Stock Plan Compare? (Part 1) This is premium content

Kate Victory
UPDATED! How typical are your grants of stock options or restricted stock? Compare their terms and provisions with the results of the NASPP's Domestic Stock Plan Design & Administration Survey.

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NEW! How may the economic downturn affect my company's stock grant practices?


Changes in executive and equity pay practices during the current downturn may eventually be far more wrenching than those caused by the 2000–2002 market drop. The focus in stock compensation has shifted from adjusting grant practices for mandatory expensing to questions about...

What is the likelihood of receiving a new-hire or periodic stock grant? Are there survey data or common practices? This is premium content


The likelihood depends mainly on your position, its salary grade, and/or...

What happens if I terminate my employment before an option grant is fully vested?


If your option was granted with a graded vesting schedule, you are allowed to exercise the vested portion of the option grant, but most commonly you forfeit the remainder...

Do I forfeit my restricted stock if I leave the company before vesting? This is premium content


Yes. You forfeit whatever stock has not vested...

Are stock option and restricted stock grants negotiable? What terms are negotiable at hire? This is premium content


In most instances, stock grants are subject to the same types of practical limitations as negotiations for your cash compensation. For example, an employer may...

Is it better to be granted nonqualified stock options (NQSOs) or incentive stock options (ISOs)?


First, you may be eligible to receive only NQSOs, so read the FAQs on the requirements of ISOs...

Can consultants or independent contractors be granted stock options or company stock? How common is this practice?


Private companies sometimes partly use stock options (NQSOs, not ISOs) or stock grants, along with or instead of cash, to compensate consultants and independent contractors (separate from grants that public and private companies make to nonemployee directors). The terms of these grants can be...

What guidelines do employers use to determine how many stock options or restricted shares to grant? This is premium content


Though this varies from industry to industry and among peer companies, most companies use a combination of...

I am leaving my job. Is my company required to tell me how many vested options I have, how long I can exercise them after I leave, or when they expire?


No law requires this. It is your obligation to know your...

Can I have the exercise price of a new stock option grant lowered or backdated? What is the controversy over backdating? This is premium content


This is a controversial practice. Previously, in some new-hire situations your company might have been more flexible. Now companies try...

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Featured FAQs
NEW! If I lose my job but I am then rehired, can unvested stock options be reinstated, or can the exercise period of my vested options be extended to the end of the original term?
While being rehired is great news, the bad news is that the unvested options were canceled or forfeited when you were laid off, regardless of the reason for termination. As for the vested options...
NEW! How may the economic downturn affect my company's stock grant practices?
Changes in executive and equity pay practices during the current downturn may eventually be far more wrenching than those caused by the 2000–2002 market drop. The focus in stock compensation has shifted from adjusting grant practices for mandatory expensing to questions about...
What is the tax impact on me if my company modifies outstanding stock options or SARs, such as by extending the option term? This is premium content
With approval from the board, and perhaps also shareholders, your company can modify outstanding grants in a way that is consistent with its stock plan. However, it should avoid tax pitfalls for you and the company, such as...