When a company wants to create an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, it must create a trust in which to contribute either new shares of the company’s stock or cash to buy existing stock. These contributions to the trust are tax-deductible up to certain limits. The shares are then allocated to all individual employee accounts. The most common allocation formula is in proportion to compensation, years of service, or both. New employees usually join the plan and start receiving allocations after they’ve completed at least one year of service.