Unable to pay salaries, Gurugram firm offers shares to staff

GURUGRAM: Unable to pay salaries to hundreds of its employees, a Gurugram-based private firm said today that it has come up with a novel plan to compensate them by offering them company shares.
The company Eastman Auto and Power Ltd is a "startup".

Managing Director Shekhar Singal said the company does "not have adequate money" during initial days and, therefore, has "decided to offer Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)".

"The idea is to attract elite talents with ESOP in which full-time employees generally earn share as part of their compensation. It is a reward to the employees for their countless contribution while empowering them to play an integral (role) in our shared future," Singhal said.

The company is working in the fields of energy storage and solar solutions, is possibly the first in Indian's solar sector to offer this scheme.

The initiative's objective is to achieve organisational excellence through valuable contributions of employees, the company said.

As a part of the initiative, 15 per cent of the total number of employees have been given this scheme. The company plans to roll out the scheme for all employees soon.

It has signed an MoU with its employees before they accepted the scheme. "It is a good scheme which makes us feel valued and an integral part of the company. It will motivate us to perform even better to achieve excellence," said Ashwani Sharma, an employee.