# Finance Act 2000, Paragraph 14

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

(1) The plan must provide that an individual is not eligible to participate in an award of shares unless—
(a) he is an employee of the company or, in the case of a group plan, of a participating company, and
(b) where the plan provides for a qualifying period, he has at all times during that period been an employee of a qualifying company
(1A) Except in the case of a group plan, a qualifying company means—
(a) the company, or
(b) a company that when the individual was employed by it was an associated company—
(i) of the company, or
(ii) of another company qualifying under this paragraph.
(1B) In the case of a group plan, a qualifying company means—
(a) a company that is a participating company at the end of the qualifying period, or
(b) a company that when the individual was employed by it was a participating company, or
(c) a company that when the individual was employed by it was an associated company of—
(i) a company qualifying under paragraph (a) or (b), or
(ii) another company qualifying under this paragraph.
(2) If the plan provides for a qualifying period, that period must be—
(a) in the case of free shares, a period of not more than 18 months ending with the date on which the award is made,
(b) in the case of partnership or matching shares—
(i) if the plan does not provide for an accumulation period, a period of not more than 18 months ending with the deduction of partnership share money relating to the award, and
(ii) if the plan provides for an accumulation period, a period of not more than six months ending with the start of the accumulation period relating to the award.
(3) For the purposes of sub-paragraph (2), in the case of an award of matching shares the deduction of partnership share money or accumulation period “relating” to the award is the deduction or period relating to the award of partnership shares to which the matching shares relate.
(4) In relation to an award, the same qualifying period must apply in relation to all employees of the company or, in the case of a group plan, of the participating companies.
(5) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (4), the plan may authorise the company to specify different qualifying periods in respect of different awards of shares.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/17/schedule/8/paragraph/14 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/finance-act-2000/schedule-8/paragraph-14
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.