I would do it differently.
A stock bonus plan would be part of every hiring contract. It would not depend on the level of employment, and it would be in addition to their salary and not a substitute of salary.
There's a test period for all new employees. Let's call it 6-months. Their performance is reviewed at that time, and every 6-months thereafter. Based on their performance review, and a non-vague rating method, employees are assigned shares of stock for the first time and those shares are put in a special account for each employee. In other words, every employee who wants to remain at the company and makes it past the first review becomes part owner of the company after that review and has voting rights according to the number of shares they accumulate from that point going forward.
I'll leave out all the details because it can get complicated. But I will say that it's not part of a retirement program -- that plan would be a separate plan.
As I tried to explain it, every employee who remains at the company will earn a salary which can increase over time and which is competitive with similar companies, but they are also paid share ownership of the company which can also grow over time (but which most other companies are not doing). How is this additional cost of employee company ownership paid for? By reductions in salary and stock grants and options given to upper management.
What should employees plan to do with their growing ownership of the company through stock grants? Diversify at some point after accumulating shares by using the advice of an investment advisor who is employed by the company for that purpose, then eventually use those funds to help pay for their children's higher education after high school. And maybe the company would have a scholarship program that would match those funds for those kids who had high grades through high school. Where would the company get the funds for those scholarships? Read the last sentence of the previous paragraph.
What has all this created? It has become a company which is more than just a company. It is a company which has also become a family or tribe.
