Shares after retirement- good leaver

[tragictramp]

Hi, a couple of former staff who have recently retired from the business, 1 ill health and 1 just reaching retirement age have been sent letters telling them they have to sell their shares, as in its compulsory for them to do so and getting them to return completed forms ( I haven't seen this). Now in my understanding these shares should be transferred from the sip into their name and not sold unless they duly wish to. These former staff have now sold these under duress. So what's the official stance on this? Cheers

[RobertT]

The following is taken from the ‘guide to shares’ we all received(available to download here: https://www.myroyalmail.com/employee-share-offers" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).

It seems clear to me they should have been given the option of either selling them or transferring them from the SIP into their own names.

If you leave Royal Mail for the following reasons, you will not lose your Free Shares and will not have to pay income tax or National Insurance on their value.

• 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 (in this situation, the people managing your estate will not have to pay income tax or National Insurance on the value of your Free Shares)

If you leave Royal Mail for any of the reasons above, the Trustee will take your Free Shares out of the SIP. You will not pay any income tax or National Insurance on the value of your Free Shares, regardless of when you leave.

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