Empowering team members with a stake in the company is considered table-stakes for many organizations—especially in early-stage tech startups. It provides a way for companies to attract and retain top talent. One of the reasons that people often join early stage startups is the potential upside in equity.
But in the world of distributed work, providing global equity comes with a unique set of challenges. It requires a knowledge of compliance and taxation, and in some countries, it can be costly and extremely time-consuming to register your equity plan.
To help, we’re excited to announce Oyster's new equity assessment tool.
How does Oyster’s equity assessment tool work?
Oyster’s Equity Assessment Tool provides country-specific information about the cost, tax obligations, and compliance requirements associated with providing stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), and cash plans to team members, reducing the uncertainty that often prevents companies from offering equity to remote workers.
Providing equity to team members across a range of locations is complicated, often requiring in-depth knowledge of the specific laws and regulations of each country. As a result, many companies are faced with a choice to either become experts in equity regulation in multiple countries or to not offer any equity to team members in certain locations. Many companies opt for the second of these two unattractive options, leaving them at a disadvantage in the job market.
Oyster’s Equity Assessment Tool gives companies a third choice: Easily understand the feasibility of providing different types of equity in multiple countries and make informed decisions about their global compensation policy. The tool’s easy-to-use color-coding system rates equity options in more than 60 countries as either green, yellow, or red, depending on local costs and requirements. For example, if stock options in Country A are marked green, it indicates that compliance and tax requirements are favorable, making this a good compensation option for a company hiring someone in that location. Similarly, if restricted stock units in Country B are marked red, it suggests that providing this form of equity is complex and potentially costly to both the company and the worker. By developing a user-friendly, reliable way of assessing equity options, Oyster is not only helping companies save time in this once complex process, it is also empowering talent acquisition teams to deliver compensation packages that are fair and competitive, regardless of where a team member is based.
Why assessing equity matters right now
Offering equity can be a powerful way of attracting and retaining team members. But in the new world of distributed work, providing incentives like stock options and RSUs can be deeply complicated. Each country has its own tax, legal, and compliance requirements, meaning that the risks and costs of providing equity can vary dramatically by location
Oyster’s equity assessment will help companies understand the implications of providing equity in certain countries, and in doing so, will give them more confidence when designing compensation packages for team members all over the world
Empowering our customers and their employees to efficiently leverage stock options and equity as compensation on a country-by-country basis breaks through yet another barrier as we navigate into a world of location-agnostic employment.
Hiring across borders? Learn more about Oyster’s equity assessment tool here!
About Oyster
Oyster is a global employment platform designed to enable visionary HR leaders to find, hire, pay, manage, develop and take care of a thriving global workforce. It lets growing companies give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches and expense.
Oyster enables hiring anywhere in the world with reliable, compliant payroll, and great local benefits and perks.