BT 2003 Annual Report Download - page 118

33. People employed
2003 2002 2001
Year end
’000
Average
’000
Year end
’000
Average
’000
Year end
’000
Average
’000
Number of employees in the group:
UK 96.3 98.4 100.1 104.9 106.4 109.7
Non-UK 8.4 9.0 8.5 9.7 10.4 8.6
Total continuing activities 104.7 107.4 108.6 114.6 116.8 118.3
UK ––– 5.8 11.5 10.6
Non-UK ––– 4.4 8.7 4.5
Total discontinued activities – – – 10.2 20.2 15.1
Total employees 104.7 107.4 108.6 124.8 137.0 133.4
34. Employee share schemes
The company has a share ownership scheme used for employee share allocations (profit sharing), an employee
share investment plan, savings-related share option schemes for its employees and those of participating
subsidiaries, further share option schemes for selected group employees and an employee stock purchase plan
for employees in the United States. It also has several share plans for executives.
Share option schemes
The major share option scheme, the BT Group Employee Sharesave Scheme, is savings related and the share
options are normally exercisable on completion of a three or five year Save As You Earn contract. A similar savings
related scheme exists for group employees based outside the UK.
Following the scheme of arrangement and demerger in November 2001, all options under the savings related
schemes became exercisable for a period of six months. On expiry of this period, these options lapsed to the
extent to which they had not been exercised. Shortly before the scheme of arrangement, 57 million shares were
allotted to a special purpose trust to satisfy options which were likely to be exercised during that six month period.
Participants in the BT Share Option Scheme, the BT US Stock Option Plan, the BT Worldwide Share Option
Scheme, and the BT Global Share Option Plan (the Executive Option Plans) were given the opportunity to
(i) conditionally on the scheme of arrangement being sanctioned by the Court, release their options over British
Telecommunications plc shares in consideration for the grant of options in their employer’s new holding company
(BT Group plc or mmO
2
plc); or (ii) if their options were already exercisable, exercise their options over ordinary
shares irrespective of whether the scheme of arrangement was sanctioned by the Court; or (iii) if their options
were not already exercisable, conditionally on the scheme of arrangement being sanctioned by the Court, exercise
their options immediately following that time but prior to the reduction of BT Group’s share capital.
To the extent that they had not already been exercised, these options lapsed on 16 November 2001,
the effective date of the scheme of arrangement.
On 17 December 2001, replacement unapproved options over BT Group shares were granted under the
BT Group Legacy Option Plan to all participants in the Executive Option Plans who had released their options
over British Telecommunications plc shares. The value of the replacement options was determined by averaging
the combined prices of BT Group plc and mmO
2
plc shares over the 20 dealing days following the demerger
on 19 November 2001. This resulted in a factor of 1.3198 being applied to the former option over British
Telecommunications plc shares in order to give the number of BT Group shares under the new option. The option
prices of the original options were also adjusted to take account of the different number of shares under option.
Notes to the financial statements
BT Annual Report and Form 20-F 2003 117