What Is Equity Compensation?

什么是股权薪酬？

Equity compensation is non-cash pay that is offered to employees. Equity compensation may include options, restricted stock, and performance shares; all of these investment vehicles represent ownership in the firm for a company's employees.

股权薪酬是提供给员工的非现金薪酬。股权薪酬可能包括期权、限制性股票和业绩股；所有这些投资工具都代表了公司员工对公司的所有权。

Equity compensation allows the employees of the firm to share in the profits via appreciation and can encourage retention, particularly if there are vesting requirements. At times, equity compensation may accompany a below-market salary.

股权薪酬允许公司的员工通过增值共享利润，并可以鼓励保留，特别是在有归属要求的情况下。有时，股权薪酬可能伴随着低于市场的薪酬。

Understanding Equity Compensation

关于股权薪酬

Equity compensation is a benefit provided by many public companies and some private companies, especially startup companies. Recently launched firms may lack the cash or want to invest cash flow into growth initiatives, making equity compensation an option to attract high-quality employees. Traditionally, technology companies in both the start-up phase and more mature companies have used equity compensation to reward employees.

股权薪酬是很多上市公司和一些私企，尤其是创业公司提供的福利。最近成立的公司可能缺乏现金，或者希望将现金流投资于增长计划，这使得股权薪酬成为吸引高素质员工的一种选择。传统上，无论是初创阶段的科技公司还是更成熟的公司，都采用股权薪酬来奖励员工。

With equity compensation, there is never a guarantee that your equity stake will actually pay off. As opposed to equity (or in combination with equity compensation), being paid a salary can be beneficial if you know exactly what you're getting. There are many variables that can impact your equity compensation.

有了股权薪酬，就永远无法保证你的股权真的会获得偿付。与股权(或与股权薪酬相结合)相反，如果你确切知道你会得到什么，那么拿工资是有益的。有许多变量会影响你的股权薪酬。

Types of Equity Compensation

股权薪酬的类型

Stock Options

股票期权

Companies that offer equity compensation can give employees stock options that offer the right to purchase shares of the companies' stocks at a predetermined price, also referred to as exercise price. This right may vest with time, allowing employees to gain control of this option after working for the company for a certain period of time. When the option vests, they gain the right to sell or transfer the option. This method encourages employees to stick with the company for the long term. However, the option typically has an expiration.

提供股权薪酬的公司可以给予员工股票期权，该期权提供以预定价格购买公司股票的权利，该价格也称为行权价格。这种权利可能随着时间而赋予，允许员工在为公司工作一定时间后获得这种期权的控制权。当期权授予时，他们获得出售或转让期权的权利。这种方法鼓励员工长期留在公司。然而，该期权通常有一个到期日。

Employees who have this option are not considered stockholders and do not share the same rights as shareholders. There are different tax consequences to options that are vested versus those that are not, so employees must look into what tax rules apply to their specific situations.

拥有该期权的员工不被视为股东，不享有与股东相同的权利。已授予和未授予的期权有不同的税务后果，因此员工必须了解哪些税收规则适用于他们的具体情况。

Non-Qualified Stock Options (NSOs) and Incentive Stock Options (ISOs)

非法定股票期权(NSO)和激励性股票期权(ISOs)

Additional types of equity compensation include non-qualified stock options (NSO) and incentive stock options (ISOs). ISOs are only available to employees (and not non-employee directors or consultants). These options provide special tax advantages. For example, with non-qualified stock options, employers do not have to report when they receive this option or when it becomes exercisable.

其他类型的股权薪酬包括非法定股票期权(NSO)和激励性股票期权(ISO)。ISO仅面向员工(非员工董事或顾问除外)。这些期权提供了特殊的税收优惠。例如，对于非法定股票期权，雇主不必报告何时收到该期权或何时该期权可以行使。

Restricted Stock

限制性股票

Restricted stock requires the completion of a vesting period. Vesting may be done all at once after a certain period of time. Alternatively, vesting may be done equally over a set period of years, or any other combination that the management of a company finds suitable. Restricted stock units (RSUs) are similar, but they represent the company's promise to pay shares based on a vesting schedule. This offers some advantages to the company, but employees do not gain any rights of stock ownership, such as voting, until the shares are earned and issued.

限制性股票要求完成归属期。归属可以在一段时间后一次性完成。或者，也可以在一段固定的时间内平均分配，或者公司管理层认为合适的任何其他组合。限制性股票单位(RSU)与此类似，但它们代表了公司根据归属时间表支付股份的承诺。这给公司带来了一些好处，但是在股份获得收益和发行之前，员工不会获得任何股票所有权的权利，例如投票权。

Performance Shares

业绩股

Performance shares are awarded only if certain specified measures are met. These could include metrics, such as an earnings per share (EPS) target, return on equity (ROE), or the total return of the company's stock in relation to an index. Typically, performance periods are over a multi-year time horizon.

业绩股仅在满足某些特定标准时授予。这可能包括指标，如每股收益(EPS)目标、股本回报率(ROE)或公司股票相对于指数的总回报率。通常，业绩是在多年的时间范围内。

（英文来源：Investopedia）