EXCLUSIVE: Easyjet employees received an average payout of £4,600 each as a sharesave scheme matured on 1 August. The highest payout was £12,000.
There were 780 employees in the sharesave, which is provided by Yorkshire Building Society.
It has been offered every year for eight years, at a discount of 20%.
Ken Lawrie, head of reward at Easyjet, said: “It is a rolling three-year scheme, with the government cap at £250 a month, so employees tend be going in one year in three.”
The grant price, which reflects the discounted price at May 2009, was £2.43. On maturity, at 1 August 2012, it was £5.61.
The maturity was communicated via a pack sent out to all participants, which includes the options available, such as: withdrawing the savings from the sharesave, transferring the shares to a spouse, selling the shares, or transferring the shares into an individual savings account (Isa).
Lawrie added: “International staff are allowed to have nominee accounts, since a UK share is hard to keep outside of the UK.”
Easyjet also offers its 8,500 employees a share incentive plan (Sip) and free share grants, which offers staff two-weeks’ pay in shares. The latter option has been offered four times in the last six years, and depends on the airliner’s annual results.
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