For many employees, getting company stock is a typical part of any compensation package. Whether through access to stock options or the promise of restricted stock units (RSUs), companies frequently offer up shares as an extra incentive to lure in a new prospective employee or retain a valuable one.
Restricted stock units differ from stock options in a few ways, but in general, they’re simpler to deal with, and thus their benefits can be more obvious. If you’ve been offered RSUs as part of your employee compensation package, you may have some questions, so let’s dig into the basics of what they are and how they work.
Restricted stock units are shares of company stock given to an employee as compensation after a period of time. They’re offered in addition to regular salary and benefits and are essentially just another way for companies to pay their employees.
RSUs are handed out over what’s called a vesting schedule, which means that after a certain period of time (or sometimes when performance goals are met), some or all of the shares become available to the employee at fair market value. At...
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