The UK’s leading employment legal expenses insurer, DAS, who provides cover and access to their legal advice helpline to millions of families and hundreds of thousands of businesses every year, says they haven’t received any requests from policyholders for legal advice regarding the new employment rights for shares scheme.
The new legislation allows employees to potentially waive employment rights in return for £2,000 worth of shares in their employer’s company. It was first proposed last year with George Osborne suggesting that such contracts would be ideal for employees at fast-growing firms.
Andrew Lear, Solicitor and Head of Employment at DAS Law, said: “While it’s still early days for this new scheme, judging by the lack of interest we have had from our advice helpline, it looks as though take-up among businesses and employees may be surprisingly small. However, regardless of the take-up, there still remain serious legal issues regarding the practicality for both employer and employee and we would anticipate legal challenges in the fullness of time.”
