Employee share schemes

Employee share ownership has many benefits. These benefits are aimed at employees, companies and society. In the European Union, a positive attitude towards employee share ownership is prevalent, but one key feature of employee share ownership is that it is voluntary. It is up to the companies and their shareholders to decide whether they wish to support employee share ownership. The national company law regulation may favour employee share schemes in several ways. Special provisions may exist for employee share schemes, allowing mechanisms that are normally prohibited. The regulation can allow normally prohibited conditions if the arrangement aims to promote the employee share schemes. The most important mechanisms are share options or new shares issued to employees, which can often be issued at a reduced price. In addition, company law has made it possible to finance employee share acquisitions with financial assistance from the company, although financing company share acquisitions has generally been viewed critically.