myStockOptions.com Expands Content On Job Termination To Help Employees With Stock Grants

Brookline, MA (PRWEB) February 9, 2009

In response to the growing number of layoffs throughout corporate America during the economic downturn, myStockOptions.com (http://www.mystockoptions.com) has expanded its content on the immediate impact that job termination has on stock options, restricted stock, and other types of equity compensation. Most of this content on job termination is available free with basic registration at the website.

Understanding Treatment Of Stock Grants After Termination Is Crucial

Upon a layoff or other type of job loss, employees urgently need to know the company rules that govern the treatment of their stock grants after job termination. Companies must strictly follow these rules and almost never make exceptions. On top of sudden unemployment, a laid-off employee who mistakenly allows in-the-money stock options to expire unexercised will irreversibly forfeit a valuable financial asset in tough economic times. The rules sometimes confuse even tax and financial advisors.

Located in the website's section Job Events, the FAQs of the job-termination content at myStockOptions.com answer the vital questions about the issues that can arise.

• What happens when employment ends before a stock option or restricted stock grant is fully vested?
• How long do employees usually have to exercise vested stock options after employment ends? Must companies inform employees about this?
• Are restricted stock and performance shares always forfeited if employment ends before the grant vests?
• After employment ends, what happens to money that has been deducted from a paycheck to buy shares in an employee stock purchase plan?
• What rights do involuntarily terminated employees have in their stock options and restricted stock, and what may the company do?
• Can the terms of a severance agreement accelerate vesting or give a longer period to exercise options?
• Does the reason for job termination affect vesting?
• What happens to previous stock grants when an employee becomes a consultant for the company or is rehired?

Articles And FAQs On Issues At Hiring

Also in the section Job Events, myStockOptions.com has complementary content on the flip side of job loss: hiring and related job negotiation. Articles on various topics in these areas include:

• Stock Option Terms: What You Can Expect
• Negotiating And Structuring Your Stock Compensation
• Taking An Overseas Assignment: Stock Compensation For Mobile Employees
• Understanding The Risks In Pre-IPO Stock Options
• Your Stock Grants May Come With Strings Attached

Questions answered include:

• What is the likelihood of receiving a new-hire or periodic stock grant?
• What guidelines do employers use to determine how many stock options or restricted shares to grant?
• Are stock option and restricted stock grants negotiable? What terms are negotiable at hire?
• Do employers ever issue additional options or restricted stock to replace grants that were forfeited at a previous employer?
• How common are noncompete provisions in stock grants? What activities can trigger a noncompete provision?
• How does a "clawback" work to take away stock grant gains?

Special Offer For Certified Equity Professionals Who Lose Their Jobs

myStockOptions.com is committed to the ongoing education of stock plan professionals, financial advisors, and plan participants alike. As part of its efforts to help during these tough economic times, myStockOptions.com offers CEPs who lose their jobs through a corporate layoff a complimentary myStockOptions.com Premium Membership, giving them full access to the site's award-winning content and tools. CEPs in this position need only contact myStockOptions.com (editors@mystockoptions.com or 617-734-1979) to take advantage of this offer.

In addition, myStockOptions.com has launched a course of study on restricted stock, restricted stock units, and performance shares that provides five hours of continuing education credit for CEPs who pass the exam at the end of the course. Approved by the CEPI, the course and 28-question exam are available from a link on the home page of myStockOptions.com. CEPs who score 70% or better on the exam receive a certificate that they must submit to the CEPI to obtain the five credits. myStockOptions.com is developing other courses for CEP credit that will soon be available.

Corporate Licensing Available

All the content on myStockOptions.com is ideally suited for licensing by companies and stock plan providers for their stock plan participants. A customized version of the website's award-winning content can be seamlessly woven into companies' HR, benefits, and/or compensation portals. Accessible through any internet browser, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, licensed content from myStockOptions.com lets stock plan participants answer their own questions about their stock grants whenever they need to learn more--saving time for the stock plan staff and costs for the company. For more information, visit myStockOptions.com, email sales@mystockoptions.com, or call 617-734-1979.

About myStockOptions.com

With exclusive articles, 700+ FAQs, the Tax Center, Global Tax Guide, an extensive glossary, and interactive tools, myStockOptions.com is the premier online resource of educational content and tools on stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock units, performance shares, stock appreciation rights, and employee stock purchase plans. myStockOptions.com is written and managed by leading experts in equity compensation, and is produced by a company with a long history of successful publications explaining complex legal and financial subjects in plain English.

The influential consumer magazine PC World ranks myStockOptions.com among "the most useful sites ever" that "deliver top-notch information, support, and services." The accounting journal CPA Wealth Provider selected myStockOptions.com among companies "that have taken the lead through innovation, efficiency, initiative, or growth in the financial-planning area." The Specialized Information Publishers' Foundation honored MSO Pro with one of its Editorial Excellence Awards in the category of Best Interactive Content among niche publishers.

myStockOptions.com has also received extensive favorable coverage in major publications, including BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe, and on CNN/fn, National Public Radio, PBS, Money.com, and CBSMarketWatch.com.

For more information, please contact Bruce Brumberg and Matt Simon at 617-734-1979 or visit http://www.mystockoptions.com.

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