We realize that working in the area of equity compensation and employee benefit programs can be a challenging task with many intricate laws and cultural differences on both a domestic and international basis that must be taken into account. Companies implementing global equity compensation and benefit plans often have to balance the desire to manage the implementation of a program and its ongoing compliance from one central location — be it in the US or outside the US — against the importance of working with local subsidiaries to coordinate the implementation and compliance efforts and to address unique legal or cultural concerns.
We are experienced in project management and administration of global equity compensation programs and can guide companies through the design and implementation of such programs and the establishment of ongoing compliance procedures on a global basis.
With respect to project management, our GES group has worked on global stock plans from the ground up — beginning with international plan and prospectus design, to the selection of a suitable global stock plan team to lead the project, developing timelines and strategies for global implementation, creation of and support for client extranet sites to assist in project management, preparation of administrative procedures and training modules for internal personnel and consultants, completion of legal filings, drafting of employee communications and translation of documents, and finally to establishing ongoing procedures for ensuring legal compliance and ease of plan administration for years to come.
Our GES lawyers have managed such projects directly with clients or working with consultants selected by clients. Depending on the scope of the program, we may provide a few simple project management services or the full range of services.
Our communication materials are well written, legally accurate and take local language and customs into account. Our GES lawyers are sensitive to issues as simple as knowing that employees in the United Kingdom are used to “ticking” the box whereas US employees typically “check” the box, as well as more complicated cultural differences, such as knowing that Italian employees generally prefer to take advantage of tax systems for shares that result in automatic withholding by an authorized broker because they do not like to report capital gains themselves.
We routinely prepare all types of employee communications including offer letters, grant notices, option agreements, enrollment forms, country-specific employee information sheets, internal plan administrative procedures, international brochures or guidelines, country-specific PowerPoint presentations introducing plan benefits to employees, summary plan descriptions, country-specific employee tax summaries, and frequently asked questions handouts.
The GES group also provides a full range of translation services for clients. We advise companies on which countries require equity compensation and benefit plan documents be translated into local languages. Once a company decides that certain documents will be translated, we can assist in the translation of all types of employee communications, from complicated legal filings and employee tax information to cover letters explaining to employees that an option grant has been made.