Government shake-up | What are employee share schemes, and how do staff benefit from them?

Schemes offering people shares in their employer are set for a shake up as the government explores changes that will help boost business growth.

In a call for evidence launched this week, the government wants to hear views on Save As You Earn (SAYE) - which allows employees to buy discounted shares in their company if they save money each month for three to five years, and the Share Incentive Plan (SIP) - which allows companies to help their employees to purchase shares directly in their company or offer them as awards, tax free.

Downing Street is seeking to improve the schemes and expand their use by making it easier for businesses to set them up and offer them out to staff.

This comes as a HMRC evaluation report shows that 81% of businesses say these schemes help boost their business, with almost three quarters of these saying it has helped them retain and recruit staff. 31% of businesses which are unaware of these schemes say they are too complicated to set up.