India’s second-largest IT services provider company Infosys has approved over 23 lakh stock incentives to certain eligible employees, effective February 1, 2022.
The IT major’s stocks are granted to employees under its 2015 Incentive Compensation Plan and Expanded Stock Ownership Program 2019.
Infosys subsidiaries’ employees will also be eligible for stock incentives in this round.
The company said in BSE filing, “This is to inform that the Nomination and Remuneration Committee has approved the grant of 2,307,300 stock incentive units to certain eligible employees of the Company and its Subsidiaries under the 2015 Stock Incentive Compensation Plan (2015 Plan) and Expanded Stock Ownership Program 2019 (2019 Plan),”
“The grant is effective from February 1, 2022. The exercise price will be equal to the par value of shares” it said
Approx 6,516 employees are granted 7,89,600 shares under the 2015 Stock Incentive Compensation Plan. And 15,17,700 shares are approved to 5,285 employees under the Expanded Stock Ownership Program 2019.
“Three-year equal vesting and will be subject to Company’s achievement of performance parameters each year as defined in the 2019 Plan,” the company further said in BSE filing.
An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is an employee benefit plan that gives workers ownership interest in the company; this interest takes the form of shares of stock. ESOPs give the sponsoring company—the selling shareholder—and participants various tax benefits, making them qualified plans.
Last year, the company has doubled the number of employees eligible for its stock options program to around 8,000 in order to recognize high performers among the employees. And the company has also spread the net wider by including employees about four, five levels down from the top leadership.
A significant portion of the share plan is linked to the performance and has a larger pool of employees.
In April 2021, the company has granted a total of 37,88,260 stock incentive units to specific key managerial personnel (KMP) and eligible employees under its 2015 Incentive Compensation Plan” and “Expanded Stock Ownership Program 2019.
The key managerial personnel included Salil Parekh, the chief executive office, UB Pravin Rao, the chief operating officer, Nilanjan Roy, chief executive office, presidents, Krishnamurthy Shankar, group human resources head, Mohit Joshi, Ravi Kumar S, presidents among others.