

Ask HN: Employees not receiving promised option grants - sumohacker

If a company promises stock options to new employees but doesn't deliver the actual agreements nor any written notice of the specific quantities and prices, what should the employee do? Does this violate the law in California after many months of employees asking and not receiving agreements?
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tomgallard
Before going 'legal' (especially as you seem to have nothing specific in
writing), why not talk to your manager, or the most appropriate person about
it.

Explain, why you're worried ("We agreed there would be options grants, and I
know you're a man of your word, but it has been a little while now, and I
wonder if you could explain why there has been a delay, and when we can expect
to get them").

Odds are that it is nothing malicious, or dodgy, but if you're at a fast
growing startup there are probably lots of other things on your CEO's plate,
and these might have been put near the bottom of the queue.

But it is worth talking it through (there are lots of reasons why it might be
taking a while- lawyer on holiday, investors need to sign off etc).

If your boss is evasive or refuses to discuss specifics, then you can start to
worry!

(I'm in the UK, and my options took a year and a half to get finally sorted
and signed off, but I trusted my boss, so didn't feel I needed to worry about
it!)

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neilk
Were you ever promised these grants in writing? If not, you probably have a
very difficult case to make.

The management of a company, and potential acquirers, have a zillion ways to
screw employees out of the value of their options. If your management is
trying to screw you now pre-money it's only going to get worse. I say leave at
the earliest opportunity.

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sumohacker
Yes it is clearly written down that we have grants, but the specifics are not
written (at least for most employees, it seems). The options are definitely in
the money already.

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neilk
Like what, "there will be option grants"?

Seems dubious to me but I'm a layman. You can hope that a wild lawyer appears
on HN but you should really get your own.

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sumohacker
Yes. I have letters on company letterhead that say things like "We will get
you your option grant paperwork soon. Sorry for the delay." unfortunately it
has been a while since then..

~~~
amorphid
Did the founders promise you a certain amount of equity?

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sumohacker
Yes, verbally. More than once and many months part. I believe they will come
through with an agreement of some kind, but I worry about receiving the
specifics of what I (and others) got promised.

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NonEUCitizen
You're supposed to get something written in your offer letter. After that,
there might be some delay, usually until the next board meeting, to get the
real paperwork (which includes # of shares and strike price). But what you are
describing is worrisome.

