Employee incentive schemes

If you run a business, no matter how big or small, attracting the right talent and retaining the highest-calibre people are always top priorities.

We specialise in providing strategic and practical advice to both public and private companies on the most effective and tax-efficient ways to reward and motivate their employees.

We also offer practical advice and support in the wider employment tax landscape, including internationally mobile employees, settlement agreements and remuneration packages.

What do we do? 

Our lawyers advise businesses and their owners on the design of the most appropriate employee incentive schemes and strategies to secure the best talent available while keeping costs down and employee engagement and tax efficiency up.

Corporate and regulatory advisory

  • Design and implement compliant management incentive/ bonus schemes, aligned with long-term performance,
  • Advise on senior management and Material Risk Taker incentives, including performance-based bonuses, long-term incentive plans, deferral, malus and clawback arrangements.
  • Support regulatory compliance, including remuneration gap analyses and alignment with legislation and group remuneration frameworks.
  • Modernise legacy arrangements, transitioning discretionary bonuses into structured, defensible and regulator ready incentive frameworks.
  • Advise on incentives in restructuring and M&A, balancing continuity of leadership with regulatory, reputational and governance risk.

Governance and oversight

  • Align incentives with corporate governance frameworks, including board and remuneration committee mandates.
  • Support effective remuneration committee decision-making, ensuring incentives withstand regulatory scrutiny and internal challenge.
  • Embed risk and accountability, ensuring reward outcomes reflect conduct, performance sustainability and risk appetite.

Employment and HR implementation

  • Draft clear, enforceable incentive documentation, reducing ambiguity, disputes and unintended liabilities.
  • Manage legal risk in variable pay, advising on discretion, entitlement, leaver treatment and clawback.
  • Ensure consistency across employment and HR frameworks, aligning incentive plans with contracts, policies and governance structures.
  • Strengthen remuneration policies and controls, including supporting documentation and process design. ambiguity, disputes and unintended liabilities.
  • Address data protection considerations, advising on employee data handling in relation to incentive arrangements.
  • Protect the business in key talent situations, including retention incentives, senior exits and post termination protections.