Share Based Employee Benefits – Should Employees Accept The Same?

Share Based Employee Benefits are different types of options and schemes framed by companies for the benefit of their employees which involve dealing in shares of the company, directly or indirectly ("Plans").¹ This is a benefit wherein rights and benefits linked directly or indirectly to shares are offered to the directors, officers or employees of a company or its holding company or subsidiary company or companies, if any, which gives such directors, officers or employees, the benefit or right to purchase, or to subscribe for, the shares of the company at a future date at a pre-determined price.²

In the recent years, especially when the world is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more companies are including such Plans as a part of the remuneration offered to employees. However, more often than not, there is a vast difference between the value of the stock appearing in the offer letter of the employee and the actual value that the employee receives from sale