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Important note

In the Autumn Statement given on 23 November 2016, the Chancellor announced that the tax advantages associated with employee shareholder shares would be withdrawn for shares given under agreements entered into on or after 1 December 2016 (2 December 2016 in cases where the potential employee shareholder receives professional advice in relation to the share offer on Autumn Statement day before 1.30pm). See the Autumn Statement, para 4.31.

The legislation on employee shareholder status was in due course repealed, by the Finance Act 2017.

Background

In a move intended to improve flexibility in the labour market, in 2013 the government created a new category of employment status, that of ‘employee shareholder’.

An employee shareholder is someone who works under an employee shareholder contract. A person may take on a role as an employee shareholder from the outset or an existing employee may choose to become an employee shareholder. An employee shareholder receives shares in the employer company (or its parent company) but in return loses some of the employment rights available to employees.

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