and Ireland have significant tax laws to encourage broad-based employee share ownership. For example, in the U.S. there are specific rules for Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). In the UK there are two all-employee tax advantaged plans that enable employees to acquire shares: the Share Incentive Plan and the Sharesave share option plan. Varieties of employee share ownership plan (including associated cash based incentive plans) include: Direct purchase plans Direct purchase plans simply allow employees to buy shares in the company with their own money. In several countries, there are special tax-qualified plans that allow employees to buy stock either at a discount or with matching shares from the company. For instance, in the U.S., employee stock purchase plans enable employees to put aside after-tax pay over some period of time (typically 6–12 months) then use the accumulated funds to buy shares at up to a 15% discount at either the price at the time of purchase or the time when they started putting aside the money, whichever is lower. In the U.K., Share Incentive Plans allow employee purchases that can be matched directly by the company. Stock options Stock options give employees the right to buy a number of shares at a price fixed at grant for a defined number of years into the future. Options, and all the plans listed below, can be given to any employee under whatever rules the company creates, with limited exceptions in various countries. Restricted stock Restricted stock and its close relative restricted stock units give employees the right to acquire or receive shares, by gift or purchase, once certain restrictions, such as working a certain number of years or meeting a performance target, are met. Phantom stock Phantom stock pays a future cash bonus equal to the value of a certain number of shares. Stock appreciation rights Stock appreciation rights provide the right to the increase in the value of a designated number of shares, usually paid in cash but occasionally settled in shares (this is called a "stock–settled" SAR). Employee ownership Employee ownership is a way of running a business that can work for different sized businesses in diverse sectors. Employee ownership requires employees to own a significant and meaningful stake in their company. The size of the shareholding must be significant. This is accepted as meaning where 25 percent or more of the ownership of the company is broadly held