How can we part ways with certificate holders, and specifically in this case, employees? Can this be done voluntarily as well as forcibly?
The question of whether one can remove someone from the STAK (Foundation Administration Office) often comes up. In this case, we're talking about certificate holders (mainly employees) and not, for instance, a director of the STAK.
The short answer is: yes, you can always part ways with certificate holders.
The long answer is:
- The method of parting depends on the situation.
- The standard rule is that when someone leaves the company, they must offer the held certificates back to the company. The company can always decide on a case-by-case basis whether they want to buy these back.
- Whether a buyback occurs often depends on the liquidity position of the company (although the standard repayment term of 5 years solves almost everything here).
- It's also possible that the company believes in ambassadors outside the organization; in this case, the employee may keep the certificates until a later moment when the employee can sell them.
- Upon an employee's departure, it's always a question of whether this is a Good-Leaver or a Bad-Leaver. This also determines the price the company pays for buying back the certificates.
- A Good-Leaver is essentially someone who leaves in mutual agreement (experience shows that this is almost always the case). There are also a few other situations classified as a Good-Leaver, even if they aren't positive situations, such as: death, bankruptcy, receivership, divorce, etc. In this case, the departing person gets the current value for the certificates he or she sells back.
- A Bad-Leaver is essentially someone who is dismissed on the spot, often because they've stolen, exhibit improper behavior, fail to uphold agreements, and the like. In this case, the departing person might get the original value of the certificates back (if they paid this amount for them) or the current value if it's lower. There are also cases of Bad-Leavers where they simply receive nothing for the certificates, and these are even taken back by the company (this is called a Claw-back).