Last year was an unusual one for executive pay as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic upended boards’ best-laid plans.

Many companies publicized decisions to cut executive salaries to show solidarity with laid-off or furloughed employees, while others converted cash payments to equity to preserve liquidity. Year over year, average cash compensation for S&P 500 execs was down 2%, according to data from public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ.

But not for everyone. In some cases, the turmoil wrought by Covid resulted in large cash payments to executives in the form of severance pay, conversions from equity to cash, retention bonuses and other comp vehicles. While many boards may have expected compensation practices to return to normal for 2021, it’s unclear whether the pandemic has truly subsided; the need to tap into otherwise unusual pay methods may not be in the rearview mirror yet.