How are unvested and unexercised options in the USA any different to share save? you don't get the dividends until you vest and you cant vote them until they vest.
And BT does have other share schemes I know as my PM got some as a bonus for his work for the millennium dome - these tend to be kept quiet in fact my pm though it was a joke by some of v senior mates
That you actually don't buy anything?
Until the Sharesave contract ends the money you "save" is just a normal savings account with a fixed interest rate set by HMRC/Treasury.
Basically BT gave you a very wierd option, the strike price is granted when you enter the SAYE contract e.g. 2010, but the actual share option is given when the contract matures 2013/2015.
To put it in a more simple term, SAYE is a fancy "ISA", basically some one in the British government figured it out that most employees cannot buy into stock options at any reasonable strike price, SAYE only allows you to give a discount of 20% from the stock price on contract entry.
After 3/5 years you get a lump sum which you saved + the interest rate and a bonus which is derived from the tax allowance SAYE savings. You can use that bonus to exercise the option you got based on the strike price you had 3 or 5 years ago if the difference is good enough and you buy the stocks and sell them you might get a very nice amount which you pay capital gain tax on, if there's not much difference or the stock price is lower than the option strike price well then you pretty much saved about as much as you would in your minimal interest cash ISA.
What you'r PM got i think is SIP, Share Incentive Plan it's another approved scheme that allows companies to grant company stock to employees, it's works very differently than SAYE.
No fixed rate, no tax free bonus, it's taxed as income tax yada yada.
And BT does have other share schemes I know as my PM got some as a bonus for his work for the millennium dome - these tend to be kept quiet in fact my pm though it was a joke by some of v senior mates