Monday.com employees should watch RSU vesting, taxes, and take-home pay

An RSU grant can look simple on paper and still surprise you the moment it vests. For monday.com employees, the real question is not how large the award looks in the offer letter, but what is left after withholding, what happens if you sell, and how much of the value survives the gap between vesting and payday.

Why vesting day matters more than grant day

Restricted stock units are a sequence, not a single event. Fidelity’s basic RSU framework is straightforward: you accept the award, wait through the vesting schedule, and then receive shares or cash after taxes are withheld. That sequencing matters because the value you think you have when the award is granted is not the same as the value that reaches your brokerage account when the shares are delivered.

At monday.com, that distinction is especially relevant because equity sits inside a public SaaS story that can move with market sentiment, growth expectations, and AI hopes. The company said fiscal 2024 revenue reached $972.0 million, up 33% from the prior year, and fourth-quarter revenue was $268.0 million. It also said net dollar retention rose to 112% and annual recurring revenue surpassed $1 billion, which helps explain why equity can feel central to compensation. It is still not the same as cash.

The tax bill arrives before the full payout does

The biggest mistake employees make is treating RSUs like a bonus that simply shows up intact. The Internal Revenue Service treats vesting as a taxable event, which means the value of the shares at vesting can create taxable income even if you never sell a single share that day. If you later sell, that separate transaction can create capital gains or losses depending on what the stock does after vesting.

Withholding is where many workers get caught off guard. The IRS says supplemental wages are generally subject to a 22% flat federal withholding rate, with a higher 37% rate applying when supplemental wages paid to an employee during the year exceed $1 million. That withholding is only the amount the company sends on your behalf, not a guarantee that it matches your final tax bill. If your total tax rate is higher, you may owe more when you file. If it is lower, you may get some of it back.

There is also a narrower IRS rule that can matter in some equity programs: Publication 525 says certain qualified employees of private corporations may be able to defer income taxation for up to 5 years from vesting on qualified stock in broad-based compensatory stock option and RSU programs. That rule is a reminder that stock compensation is not one-size-fits-all. The tax result depends on the plan structure, the employer, and the event that triggers the income.

Why monday.com’s public-company status changes the conversation

monday.com is not a private startup handing out paper wealth and hoping for the best. It is a foreign private issuer, which means it files a Form 20-F annual report rather than a domestic 10-K. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requires that form to report the number of outstanding shares of each class of stock as of the end of the reporting period. For employees, that is more than a filing detail. It is a reminder that every RSU grant lives inside a larger share count, dilution picture, and market valuation.

That context matters for retention too. When a public SaaS company has more than 250,000 customers worldwide and says it has passed $1 billion in annual recurring revenue, workers often start viewing RSUs as a meaningful part of compensation. But equity only acts like a retention tool if employees understand its trade-offs. If the stock price falls between vesting and sale, take-home value drops. If the stock rises, the upside belongs to the employee only after taxes and market timing are accounted for.

For engineers, product managers, and sales professionals, that means equity should be part of the compensation conversation, not a side note. Managers and recruiters do better when they explain RSUs plainly: they can be valuable, but they are exposed to market risk, tax friction, and the timing of vesting. A headline grant is not the same thing as spendable pay.

Israel, plan design, and why location changes the outcome

For monday.com employees based in Israel, the after-tax math can be different again. Israeli equity-compensation guidance says RSU taxation can vary depending on the structure of the award, including Section 102 trustee arrangements. That means two employees with similar grants can end up with different results based on where they work, how the plan was set up, and which withholding rules applied.

That is why the same vest can feel very different across the company. One person may see a clean path from vest to sale. Another may need to think about local tax treatment, longer holding periods, or a trustee structure that changes when income is recognized. The practical lesson is simple: the vesting date is not just a calendar event, it is a tax event with local consequences.

What employees should do before the next vest

A few habits make RSUs easier to manage:

• Keep your contact information current so vesting notices and brokerage transfers do not get lost.

• Track each vest date and know whether you plan to sell immediately, hold for upside, or split the difference.

• Set aside cash for taxes if withholding is unlikely to cover the full bill.

• Review whether the award is subject to U.S. withholding, Israeli treatment, or a trustee arrangement that changes timing.

• Think about diversification. RSUs can create concentrated exposure to the same stock that already shapes part of your compensation.

The key point for monday.com workers is not to fear equity, but to respect it. In a company with fast-growing revenue, more than 250,000 customers, and a stock tied to SaaS expectations, RSUs can be one of the most valuable parts of pay. They are also one of the easiest parts to misunderstand. Vesting season is when that misunderstanding turns into a real paycheck.