Rewarding employees by giving them an equity stake in the business can help you attract and retain the best talent. As many employers have already found, committed and incentivised staff can often be key to business success
Employee share schemes are now an important feature of the remuneration landscape. The use of HMRC approved and other tax-efficient arrangements make share schemes particularly attractive to employees. This can help give you the edge and set your business apart from your competitors when it comes to recruiting the talent you need.
Working with you to design and implement the right scheme for your business is what RSM share scheme professionals do best. Having worked on hundreds of schemes, we have the experience to listen and understand your business and its needs. By using that wealth of experience we are able to deliver exactly the right type of scheme – taking into account your business size, aspirations and objectives.
| Key issues | Type of scheme |
|---|---|
| The company is not under the control (<50%) of any other company | EMI, SIP, SAYE, EOT, CSOP, USOP, PPS, Growth |
| The company is under the control (>50%) of another company | USOP, PPS, Growth |
| Discretion to benefit one or more employees | EMI, CSOP, PPS, Growth |
| Participation offered to all employees | SIP, SAYE, EOT, EMI, CSOP, USOP |
| Participation offered to non-UK persons (subject to local laws and taxes) | USOP, PPS, Growth (possibly EMI, SAYE and EOT with adaptations) |
| Participation offered to non-executive directors, contractors and other non-employees | PPS, Growth |
| Shares offered at a discount | EMI, SIP, SAYE |
| Shares offered for free | SIP, EMI |
| Simple and flexible | EMI, USOP |
| Most tax reliefs | EMI, SIP |
| Transfer to full employee ownership | Mostly EOT but could also have EMI, SIP and USOP |
| Key | |||
| EMI | Enterprise Management Incentive Scheme | CSOP | Company Share Option Plan |
| SIP | Share Incentive Plan | USOP | Unapproved Share Option Plan |
| SAYE | Savings Related Share Option Plan | EOT | Employee Ownership Trust |
| PPS | NII or partly paid shares | Growth | Growth shares |
RSM’s team of share scheme specialists, will help you by:
- advising on revitalising existing plans to meet current objectives;
- designing and implementing share plans, bonus plans and other forms of remuneration to support your business strategy;
- drafting plan rules and/or performance conditions;
- assisting you to implement plans and communicate benefits to staff;
- reviewing plans to ensure they continue to comply with regulatory requirements; eg online registration and annual returns, so that, in this context, any future due diligence is straightforward and holds no surprises;
- valuing the shares and agreeing that value with HMRC; and
- making it easier for both UK-based and non-UK-based employees to join international plans.
Find out more about the share schemes available:
- employee ownership trusts;
- enterprise management incentives share options; and
- share incentive plans.
To find out more about employee shares schemes, and why they are so popular with employers and employees alike, please contact Fiona Bell.
