The Decision-Maker's Guide to Equity Compensation, 2nd Ed

Many books discuss the tax, legal, and other aspects of equity compensation, but this book is different: It focuses on helping people who are designing plans decide what kinds of equity to choose, and who should get how much and when. Are options a better fit than restricted stock? What are the pros and cons of phantom stock and stock appreciation rights? Should employees be able to buy stock? If so, how? Who will be eligible and under what rules? How will awards be earned, and how will the company provide liquidity for the awards? All too often, these and other issues are ignored or dealt with by guessing, applying rules of thumb, or applying the approach that someone else happens to be familiar with. This book helps readers make educated, reasoned decisions about the equity compensation strategies they need, not the ones someone else might want them to use. At the same time, the book also covers the general legal, tax, and other rules applicable to each plan type: stock options, unrestricted stock grants and stock purchase plans, restricted stock awards and restricted stock units, phantom stock and stock appreciation rights (SARs), and performance awards. ESOPs, qualified profit sharing plans, and 401(k) plans are also discussed. Special chapters discuss equity compensation in limited liability companies (LLCs), deferred compensation issues, accounting for equity compensation, securities laws, public company considerations, designing an equity plan, and deciding on executive equity.

Pam Chernoff, CEP, is the editor of The Stock Options Book and writes for and edits National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) publications. She previously spent almost eight years as a project director for the organization. In that role, she coordinated the content for the NCEO's prep course for the Certified Equity Professional (CEP) exams. She currently does exam development for the CEP Institute at Santa Clara University.

Elizabeth Dodge, CEP, is the vice president of product management for Stock & Option Solutions, an equity compensation consulting firm based in San Jose, California. She has been designing software and solutions for equity compensation since 1998 and has held her CEP designation since 1999. Elizabeth is a frequent speaker on equity compensation topics, including accounting; volunteers for NASPP and the CEP Institute; and serves on the board of directors of the NCEO.

Daniel N. Janich is an officer of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. in Chicago. He has extensive experience counseling businesses and executives on all aspects of their employee benefits and executive compensation plans and arrangements, including the tax, securities law, and ERISA issues. He also litigates employee benefits and executive compensation claims in state and federal court. Mr. Janich received a B.A. degree cum laude in history from Marian University; a J.D. degree from The John Marshall Law School; and an LL.M. in Taxation degree from DePaul University.

Scott Rodrick is the NCEO's director of publishing and information technology. He designed and created the NCEO's present line of publications and is the author or coauthor of several books himself. Since 1994, he has created and maintained the NCEO's presence on the Internet. He is an attorney and served at the U.S. Department of Labor as an attorney-advisor before coming to the NCEO.

Corey Rosen is the cofounder and former executive director of the NCEO. Over the years, he has written, edited, or contributed to dozens of books, articles, and research papers on employee ownership. He is generally regarded as the leading expert on employee ownership in the world. Rosen received his PhD in political science from Cornell University in 1973, after which he taught politics at Ripon College in Wisconsin before being named an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in 1975. In 1981, he formed the NCEO. He stepped down as the NCEO's executive director in April 2011 and now serves as its senior staff member.

Dan Walter, CEP, is the president and CEO of Performensation. Dan has assisted companies for more than 15 years with both executive and broad-based compensation programs. He provides perspectives on end-to-end solutions for private and public companies in both the United States and abroad. Dan's expertise includes equity compensation, executive programs, performance-based pay, and talent management issues. His experience with these programs includes diagnosis, design, communication, administration, and reporting.