New York City Executive Compensation Lawyers

Do You Need Help Negotiating, Renegotiating, or Enforcing an Employment Agreement?

A New York City company is only as successful as its top-level management. Recruiting and retaining such managerial talent often comes down to the executive compensation. Corporate officers, directors, and other senior executives operate in high-pressure, high-stress environments. Their compensation package needs to reflect that reality.

The New York City executive compensation lawyers at Carey & Associates, P.C., provide full-service representation to individuals in the process of negotiating their base pay, incentives, benefits, and any other terms relevant to their ongoing employment. Our team can advise you of your fair market value as a corporate executive and provide extensive financial, tax, and regulatory analysis of your compensation package. Whether you are looking to negotiate a compensation package with a prospective employer, or you need advice on how to revise an existing pay package, we offer skilled, professional legal advice that can help put you in the strongest negotiating position.

What Makes Up an Executive Compensation Package in New York City?

Obviously, there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to executive compensation. Every industry and company has its own unique set of challenges. And every executive compensation package negotiation turns on the specific factors applicable to both the employer and the employee.

With that in mind, here are some of the common elements applicable to most executive compensation packages in New York:

• Base Salary: Just about every executive compensation package includes a yearly salary–i.e., a base salary. This is the fixed compensation an employee receives during the year, usually on a monthly or bimonthly basis.
• Short-Term Incentives: Beyond the base salary, most companies will offer some form of bonus or short-term incentive if the executive meets certain quarterly or annual performance objectives.
• Long-Term Incentives: New York City companies frequently offer executives and other key employees some form of stock option as a long-term performance incentive. Stock options are among the more complex forms of executive compensation as they can be structured in many different ways, including non-qualified stock options, incentive stock options, restricted stock awards, and stock appreciation rights.
• Benefits: Beyond pay and stock options, it is customary for executives to receive a full complement of employment benefits, including but not limited to health insurance, life insurance, retirement benefits, paid vacation time, and other forms of paid time off.
• Executive Perquisites: Some executive compensation packages include additional special rights and privileges such as membership in an exclusive club or access to a corporate car or airplane.

Executive compensation is commonly negotiated as part of a larger employment contract. Such agreements contain a number of additional terms that touch upon executive compensation matters. For example, an employment contract may provide for severance pay in the event the company decides to terminate the executive before the end of the employment period. The company may also provide a signing bonus to compensate the executive for leaving a prior employer and forfeiting any further compensation from their old company. Conversely, the employer may insist on terms requiring an executive to forfeit certain pay and benefits if they either leave the company before the end of the contract or their employment is terminated for cause.

Why Do You Need a New York City Executive Compensation Lawyer?

Anyone who has reached a point in their career where they are in a position to receive an executive compensation package understands they should never enter any contract negotiation without the assistance of qualified counsel. Working with a New York City executive compensation lawyer is not about setting up an adversarial relationship between employee and employer. Rather, it is meant to ensure that both sides receive proper advice about the potential benefits and drawbacks of any potential executive compensation package.

Additionally, there are a number of tax and regulatory issues that need to be carefully considered when negotiating an executive compensation package. In the case of an employer that is a publicly traded company, federal law mandates disclosure of executive compensation as well as an advisory shareholder vote on the terms of any compensation package offered to certain key executives. And when executive compensation involves any form of stock option or stock grant, such transactions must be structured to minimize potential tax penalties.

In short, negotiating an executive compensation package is not a do-it-yourself project, even for the most seasoned corporate executive. And remember, once the employment contract is signed, it is often too late for either side to try and back out of the deal without significant consequences. So if you need legal advice from a qualified New York City executive compensation lawyer, call Carey & Associates, P.C., today at (914) 705-5427 to schedule a free initial consultation.