Employee share plans need to be designed and handled with care. Our Incentives and Remuneration team is a leader in the creation, implementation and operation of all forms of incentive plan from bespoke growth share arrangements for managers of a private equity-backed business to all-employee plans for multinational listed companies.

The success of a share plan is dependent on how effectively it is explained to participants. Preparing employee-friendly documentation is second nature to us, as is guiding clients through the whole communication process. The ability to liaise effectively with clients’ other advisers (such as administrators and trustees of employee benefit trusts) is an important part of this.

Examples of our wide-ranging work include advising on:

• the impact on share plans of corporate transactions such as mergers, sales and acquisitions
• the design and implementation of tax- advantaged plans for UK employees of overseas companies
• the share scheme implications of initial public offerings and drafting new tax-advantaged and non tax-advantaged plans for the listed company
• share ownership plans for the managers and senior employees of companies where clear and employee-friendly drafting is key to ensuring high levels of participation.

We are ranked as a tier 1 practice in the Legal 500 2024.