Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USA - Sorainen

Employee Share Plans in Europe and the USACzech Republic7. Employee benefit trusts7.1 Employee benefit trusts are not recognised under Czech law. However, a Czechcompany may make a contribution to such a trust for the benefit of itsemployees.7.2 It is currently unclear whether an employee who is a beneficiary of adiscretionary employee benefit trust should be taxable for that reason alone.However, it is thought that he should be taxed only when he actually receivesbenefits from the trust, as if he had received those benefits directly from hisemploying company.8. Data protectionEmployee consent must be obtained for the collection, processing and worldwidetransfer of personal data in connection with an employee share plan. 10 Inaddition, express consent must be obtained from employees for the processingof their birth numbers. Birth numbers are normally used by Czech businesses asthe key identifier in databases as they provide unambiguous identification of allCzech citizens.9. Employment lawPlease refer to paragraph 4 on pages 5-6 of this guide. This explains theemployment law issues which are generally applicable to a greater or lesserdegree in all the countries covered by this guide. There is a risk that employeesmay claim a right to continued participation in an employee share plan or thatrights under a plan may be included in compensation on termination.Companies should seek specific advice on these issues and other employmentlaw issues which may be applicable.10If the employer is involved in collecting and/or processing the employees’ personal data, it must (i)obtain permission from each employee to collect his/her personal data and to transfer the personaldata abroad, (ii) register with the data protection office, and (iii) obtain prior approval from the dataprotection office to transfer the data abroad. The obligation to seek the approval of the data protectionoffice does not apply if the processed data is handed over to the EU countries or Switzerland.If the parent company processes the subscription forms, it should obtain an analogous consent fromeach employee to be allowed to process his/her personal data. No registration with or approval by thedata protection office is needed.UK/1729295/03 25 September 2010