No bonus? Give us shares instead!

Labour minister suggests companies give employees stock options if they can't afford to give raises or incentives

Industrialists in the state may want to deny their employees bonuses and hikes on the pretext of recession, but the state Labour Minister Nawab Malik has a solution for the companies who are feeling the pinch of recession.

The minister wants the companies to hand out shares to their employees, if they cannot pay bonuses or hike their salaries.

"We have been hearing about employees being denied bonus because the companies supposedly are not in a position to pay these emoluments. If the recession has affected them and they can't pay anything to the employees, then let them give out shares like Employee Stock Options (ESOPS), on the lines of the ones given by the software companies," said Malik.

"The companies have nothing to lose and the employees also benefit from this. If the companies are really doing bad, then the employees can exercise their stock options when the companies do well," added Malik.

The Labour Minister claimed, "We are examining the legal options to see whether this can be made binding on companies including private, public and public limited companies by incorporating it in the rules. We will frame a draft proposal for recommending the granting of shares to employees if they are not given bonus."

When asked whether all employees (permanent and on contract) would be offered shares, Malik said, "Only after we examine all legalities. After that, we can declare a policy on this."

Top software companies in other countries are among those that offer employees shares as stock options.