Background
Over the years, a number of mechanisms have taken root in an
effort to ensure the retention of employees (of various grades) in
business firms. Hence, in many technology companies, both veteran
companies and startups, it is very common to grant employees
various types of benefits, inter alia, options to acquire shares of
the company.
The legal document which entrenches the conditions for employee
stock options is a warrant, which is granted to an employee within
the framework of an employee stock option plan (ESOP). The warrant
contains the terms of the options, including the exercise price,
the vesting period, the methods of exercising options, etc.
In the current article, we have chosen to describe a number of
common corporate mechanisms specified within the framework of the
warrants which detail the provisions of the options, the rights of
the employee to exercise them, and the terms upon which he may do
so.
