Executive compensation is a critical topic for companies of all sizes and the subject is more complex than many practitioners anticipate. This book provides the tools to help you navigate this complex are of law in a user-friendly manner. The guide includes an overview of many key areas of the law and highlights opportunities and pitfalls that are common in executive compensation. The most essential rules and laws that you should be familiar with when navigating an executive compensation matter are highlighted. This book is intended to aid lawyers, accountants, business owners, and tax and human resource professionals.
Beginning with an introduction to executive compensation, the chapters focus on the legal and regulatory compliance of the non-qualified incentive and deferred compensation components of an employee's compensation package - that portion of the package provided in the form of incentive pay, equity compensation, and/or deferred compensation plans. Topics addressed include:
- The stakeholders and which employees should receive executive compensation
- Negotiating the employment agreement and compensation package
- Tax aspects, deductions, and exceptions to the Tax Code
- Types of plans - ERISA, nonqualified deferred plans, and equity plans
- Why deferred compensation plans matter in M&A
- Tax exempt and government entities
- Relevance of securities laws
- Partnerships and LLCs taxed as partnerships
- Enforcement of executive agreements
- And much more!
Jesse St. Cyr practices employee benefits and executive compensation as a partner with the law firm Poyner Spruill LLP. He has extensive experience working on executive compensation matters with a variety of employers, including public and private companies, governmental employers, and churches. Jesse received his B.A. degree from George Mason University and his J.D. degree from William & Mary School of Law.
Kelsey Mayo is an employee benefits and executive compensation partner with the law firm Poyner Spruill LLP. She works with executives, vendors, business owners, and HR teams to understand and manage all types of employee benefits and executive compensation arrangements. Kelsey enjoys helping professionals decipher the most complex areas of this field and speaks regularly with industry organizations. She also serves the American Retirement Association’s Government Affairs Team, which works with government agencies and Congress to develop workable regulations and legislation for the retirement industry. She earned her B.S. degree in Accounting from North Carolina State University and her J.D. degree from Wake Forest University School of Law.
Sharon Reece is currently a visiting associate professor of law at the University of Maryland School of Law. For the past 20 years she has been a law professor, teaching courses in the area of taxation and employee benefits at Albany Law School, Rutgers University School of Law (Camden, New Jersey), and the University of Arkansas School of Law (Little Rock). She has published in the areas of taxation and employee benefits law. Prior to starting her full-time teaching career she worked as a tax attorney at the law firm of Berchem & Moses in Connecticut. She is a graduate of the University of the West Indies, Jamaica (B.A.), Long Island University (M.A.), Hofstra University (J.D.), and New York University (LL.M., taxation). She is admitted to state bars in New York and Connecticut. Professor Reece is a member of the American Bar Association, Tax Section. November 2010
