The standards which apply to employment relationships and the terms and conditions under which an employee works are laid down within a framework of rules created by the Constitution laws, collective agreements, internal regulations and custom.

This Guide is designed to summarise the main legal and tax issues arising on the operation of employee share plans in a number of key jurisdictions across the globe. It has been prepared with the assistance of Clifford Chance colleagues in Amsterdam, Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, New York, Paris, Prague, Shanghai and Warsaw.

This guide is designed to provide an overview of employment law in each of the 27 member states of the European Union (“EU”). It has been limited to a general description of the areas of employment law in each Member State that are of most interest.