Eligibility
Define classes of eligible employees, service requirements, exclusions for affiliates or contractors, and how hire, termination, and leave-of-absence events affect participation and contribution continuity administration.
Rally's Employee Stock Purchase Plan documents participant rights and administrative rules, creating a clear legal framework for equity purchases, payroll withholding, and tax reporting. It reduces ambiguity for HR and finance teams and supports compliance with securities and tax regulations.
This section identifies parties who typically draft, administer, or rely on Rally's Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
Define classes of eligible employees, service requirements, exclusions for affiliates or contractors, and how hire, termination, and leave-of-absence events affect participation and contribution continuity administration.
Specify offering periods, purchase dates, look-back windows, minimum and maximum contribution windows, and automatic enrollment or rollover procedures where permitted by plan terms and reporting methods.
Describe pricing formula including discount rates, look-back to offering or grant price, rounding rules, handling fractional shares, and broker settlement instructions for purchased shares timing.
Explain federal tax consequences for participants, withholding responsibilities, reporting timelines, and whether qualified disposition rules apply under IRC provisions, including ordinary income versus capital gain characterization and required IRS forms where applicable.
Identify plan administrator, committee authority, amendment procedures, blackout and trade-window policies, recordkeeping responsibilities, and how disputes or errors will be handled, including correction and restitution processes.
Include representations, resale restrictions, legend language, SEC filing obligations, Rule 701 or 409A considerations, and mechanisms to comply with federal and state securities laws and transfer agent protocols.
| Field | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Enrollment Field | Capture employee acceptance; required field with timestamp |
| Payroll Deduction | Store percentage and effective date; integrate with payroll system |
| Purchase Schedule | Define offering period, purchase dates, and look-back calculation rules |
| Notifications | Automatic emails to employees and finance on enrollment and purchase events |
Technical considerations for electronic ESPP processing include supported file formats, integrations, and signer authentication options.
| signNow | DocuSign | Adobe Sign | PandaDoc | HelloSign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $8/user/mo | $15/user/mo | $14/user/mo | $19/user/mo | $15/user/mo |
| Free Trial | 7-day free trial | Varies by plan | Varies by plan | Varies by plan | Varies by plan |
| Bulk Send | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Audit Trail | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Last date employees may opt in for an offering period
Defines when payroll deductions begin for contributions
Date payroll deductions convert to share purchases per plan rules
Wage reporting of disqualifying dispositions by January 31
File for share transfers when required; follow IRS guidance
Adopt plan document and authorize share reservation.
Notify eligible employees and open enrollment window.
Begin withholding per elected contribution percentages.
Broker executes purchase and shares issue to accounts.
A mid-size private technology employer runs quarterly offering periods and centralizes enrollment through payroll deductions and a web-based plan document
A public company integrates ESPP enrollment with payroll and their broker to ensure SEC and reporting compliance across offering periods
| Criteria | ESPP Document | Stock Option Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Participant Payment | payroll deductions | exercise payment |
| Purchase Price | discount/look-back | strike price set |
| Tax Treatment | employee sale rules | iso/nso rules differ |
| Reporting Forms | form 3922 | w-2 or 1099 report |