This change applies to vesting plans, deferred compensation plans,
phantom stock plans, different kinds of option plans and so on and so forth.
ESOP Plus[R] - www.esopplus.com - is a national boutique law firm that guides it clients through succession and exit planning strategies using employee stock ownership plans (ESOPS),
phantom stock plans, stock options, stock appreciation rights and other techniques for encouraging employee ownership.
Incentive plans can include profit sharing plans, cash bonus plans, and
phantom stock plans, among others.
Deferred compensation plans range from cash incentive plans, stock appreciation rights,
phantom stock plans and restricted executive benefit plans.
Phantom stock plans are a form of nonqualified deferred compensation made available to select employees.
Phantom stock plans are subject to Internal Revenue Code section 409A and its regulations.
Phantom stock plans. These plans usually feature awards based on hypothetical shares of company stock.
Beyond those exceptions, section 409A applies broadly to salary reduction plans, supplemental employee retirement plans (SERPs), parachute payments,
phantom stock plans, severance plans, insurance commissions, discounted stock options, certain SARs, non-excluded fringe benefits, etc.
To attract top talent, the company offers what Steinberg calls "
phantom stock plans based on our results." They could not match the compensation of the recently departed dot-coin era, he said, "but they provide steady, solid and good compensation." In the last three years, the company lost only one top executive to a public company, and the departure was not due to compensation.
It is interesting to note who is participating in these programs, the general levels of participation and the structural vehicles that are most commonly employed (i.e., stock options,
phantom stock plans and so forth).
But offering multiple retirement plans -- and in some cases;
phantom stock plans -- shows they're rising to the challenge.
These plans are often described as full value
phantom stock plans.