To want new employer to give me shares?

[BlueAndBlue]

I'm about to sign a permanent contract for a 3 days/week job in a fast-moving tech company, probably about to go to IPO in the next year or two.

As with tech companies about to float, I was expecting to receive shares as part of my package (this happened to me in the last tech company I worked for. I'm currently vesting these shares and although it's not life-altering money, it'll pay for our new carpet).

They've told me however that they simply don't have any more shares to give.

They seem reasonable and I can only trust them but.... I was wondering if someone here could confirm that's correct?

Or should I ask that a mention be added in my contract stating that I'll have first dibs as and when they get a new round of funding and therefore new shares?

Thanks!

It is possible they have awarded all share options in the employee pool and therefore can't issue more.

Depending on the share ownership of the company, they may be able to authorise and allot new share capital but in many cases this is not a trivial matter.

It's up to you to decide whether, commercially, you are prepared to work for them based on current terms. Or negotiate if you think they are very keen though you may need to wait several weeks if they need to go through a formal process.

Also, if it's an EMI scheme, there's a minimum number of hours a week you have to work - 25 hours, or 75% of your working time. So if you're on 3 days a week, you won't be eligible.

Erm, why would you think you're entitled to shares in your employer's company?

Oh I'm not entitled to anything of course! It's just that I know they've struggled to find someone with my profile for 3 days per week (weird but true... marketers wanting to work 3 days per week shouldn't be that difficult to find?!) and so I knew that they were very keen to have me... so I knew that I had an upper hand in the negotiation round.

But as it stands, I'll probably accept their offer without any shares, because I can see that there's not much they can do about it right now, even if they wanted it.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!