Employee Share Schemes Under Review

The Government is running a call for evidence on how to simplify and widen accessibility to employee share schemes.

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The Treasury is inviting comments on save as you earn (SAYE), the company share option plan (CSOP) and the share incentive plan (SIP) until 25 August 2023. Through the call for evidence, ministers aim to improve the schemes and make them easier for businesses to set up.

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Businesses and representatives can answer questions to help the Government improve the schemes by submitting their responses online.

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Employee share schemes give companies ways to incentivise employees by offering them a direct stake in the company, together with a more generous tax treatment. A Government survey found that a third (31%) of businesses find the schemes too complicated to set up, however, describing them as time consuming and costly.

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The evaluation also showed that more than half (55%) of companies did not know whether they had registered for SAYE, CSOP or SIP in the last ten years. Meanwhile, 38% of these unaware claimant companies said they did not offer employee share schemes because of corporate governance, financing and structure. And yet, 81% of respondents said share schemes help boost their business, with almost three-quarters saying the schemes help them retain and recruit staff.

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In June 2022, 1,030 employee-owned businesses were running in the UK. Victoria Atkins, financial secretary to the Treasury, said: Employee share schemes are an effective way to boost motivation in workforces by giving people an extra stake in what they do  and they offer a boost for business. Growing the economy is a priority for this government, and one way to make this happen is by making these schemes as easy as possible to set up.