Your Free Shares if you leave Royal Mail...

[POSTMAN]

Depending on your reason for leaving, you may or may not lose your Free Shares.

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If you receive Free Shares and you leave Royal Mail less than three years after they are given to you, you may or may not lose your Free Shares.

It depends on the reason you leave Royal Mail.

If you leave

If you leave Royal Mail for any of the following reasons:

You have an injury or disability which means you can no longer do your job
You are made redundant
You retire
The part of the company or business you work for is sold or transferred
You die,
you will not lose your Free Shares and you (or the people managing your estate if you die) will not have to pay income tax or National Insurance on their value.

If you leave Royal Mail for any of the above reasons more than three years after Free Shares are given to you, you will not lose your Free Shares and will not have to pay income tax or National Insurance on their value.

If you resign or are dismissed

If you resign or are dismissed within three years after being given the Free Shares, you will lose the shares.

If you resign or are dismissed more than three years after being given the Free Shares you will not lose your Free Shares.

If you leave between three and five years after being given the Free Shares, you will need to pay any income tax and National Insurance that is due, but if you leave after five years no income tax or National Insurance will be due.

Receiving shares or sale proceeds

If you leave Royal Mail for any reason and do not lose your Free Shares, your Free Shares will be taken out of the Share Incentive Plan (SIP).

You (or if you have died, those managing your estate) may instruct the Employee Share Offers administrator, Equiniti, either to

sell your shares and (after deducting any income tax and National Insurance and any fee for selling your shares) pay the money made from the sale to you or
transfer the shares to you (or those managing your estate), so long as enough shares are sold to meet any fee for selling your shares and income tax and National Insurance liabilities
If you give no instructions, your shares will be sold by Equiniti and you (or your estate) will receive the money made from the sale (after a fee has been deducted for selling your shares and any income tax and National Insurance has been deducted).

More information

More information on what happens to your Free Shares if you leave Royal Mail and the SIP (including on the capital gains tax position) can be found on page 23 of your Guide to the Employee Share Offers.

[borgpicard]

most of us beleive they'll be worthless in 5 years anyway ?

[Timelord]

Depending on your reason for leaving, you may or may not lose your Free Shares.

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If you leave Royal Mail for any of the following reasons:

You have an injury or disability which means you can no longer do your job

Can you keep the shares if you resign because of a disability, or only if you leave with IHR ?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Depending on your reason for leaving, you may or may not lose your Free Shares.

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If you leave Royal Mail for any of the following reasons:

You have an injury or disability which means you can no longer do your job

Can you keep the shares if you resign because of a disability, or only if you leave with IHR ?

No a resignation is a resignation. You would need to prove that the disability affected the job, and the only way to do that is through IHR. RM couldn't just take your word about it after all.

[1969tonka]

I am emigrating to the USA next year with my American wife and would like to sell my shares then resign in October 2016 , would this be a problem and am I breaking any rules ?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

I am emigrating to the USA next year with my American wife and would like to sell my shares then resign in October 2016 , would this be a problem and am I breaking any rules ?

No, but you'll be tight on the qualifying limits as 15 Oct 2013 is when the shares were given to us (first tranche) and you'll be liable for tax etc as the first sale date available will be around 15 Oct 2016 . The 2nd tranche which came in April you'll probably surrender when you hand your notice in.

[1969tonka]

Yes will lose the April bit but as it's much smaller it's not to bad , and we can wait till the middle of October as we both work for Royal Mail it wold be silly not to , we are presuming that forms would need to be signed beforehand to allow the shares to be sold (but not sure) , thanks for your advice terrier .

[coxie]

If you're going to USA mate take a career break and quit later on after you've banked the shares

[paulthepostie]

You mention 'after 3 years', but we have had three or four guys leave on ill health last year and they got their shares still. So that's less than three years since they were issued isn't it?. Should they have not got them?.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

You mention 'after 3 years', but we have had three or four guys leave on ill health last year and they got their shares still. So that's less than three years since they were issued isn't it?. Should they have not got them?.

Yes they should. Ill Health and retirees are counted as Good Leavers so get to keep or sell the shares. Passing away is also consider as a "good" way of leaving and the shares will pass on to the deceased's estate.

[paulthepostie]

Oh ok sorry i think i must have misquoted what you had said. I thought that even if you had left on 'good terms' such as ill health retirement you still wouldn't be entitled until you had passed the three year mark, and then left.
Had a bad week and i'm a little exhausted, please excuse me haha.

[rofrla]

In order to retire you have to resign, therefore you resign not retire. What is the legal position as to keeping or loosing the shares?

[RobertT]

In order to retire you have to resign, therefore you resign not retire. What is the legal position as to keeping or loosing the shares?

If you're 60 or older and resign you are deemed to be retiring and you will keep your shares regardless of the 3/5 year rule. If you're under 60 then you need to be a 'good leaver' to keep them.

[ctpunk]

I am emigrating to the USA next year with my American wife and would like to sell my shares then resign in October 2016 , would this be a problem and am I breaking any rules ?

take a carier breake for one year instead of resigning in October 2016, then resign in October 2017.

[windermeredave]

I`m retiring in August. that makes me a good leaver. it is before the 3 years are up in October. so How long after I leave would I expect to get my free share payments? I would imagine I will be given the option to keep or sell.