WORK Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1666 To establish an Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 23 (legislative day, MAY 22), 2019 Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BROWN, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish an Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Worker Ownership, 4 Readiness, and Knowledge Act’’ or the ‘‘WORK Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. WORKER OWNERSHIP, READINESS, AND KNOWL- 6 EDGE. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1666 IS (1) EXISTING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘existing 1 program’’ means a program, designed to promote 2 employee ownership and employee participation in 3 business decisionmaking, that exists on the date on 4 which the Secretary is carrying out a responsibility 5 authorized under this section. 6 (2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 7 the Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative 8 established under subsection (b). 9 (3) NEW PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘new program’’ 10 means a program, designed to promote employee 11 ownership and employee participation in business de- 12 cisionmaking, that does not exist on the date on 13 which the Secretary is carrying out a responsibility 14 authorized under this section. 15 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 16 the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Assistant 17 Secretary for Employment and Training. 18 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 19 the 50 States of the United States. 20 (b) EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION INI- 21 TIATIVE.— 22 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Labor 23 shall establish within the Employment and Training 24 Administration of the Department of Labor an Em- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1666 IS ployee Ownership and Participation Initiative to pro- 1 mote employee ownership and employee participation 2 in business decisionmaking. 3 (2) FUNCTIONS.—In carrying out the Initiative, 4 the Secretary shall— 5 (A) support within the States existing pro- 6 grams designed to promote employee ownership 7 and employee participation in business decision- 8 making; and 9 (B) facilitate within the States the forma- 10 tion of new programs designed to promote em- 11 ployee ownership and employee participation in 12 business decisionmaking. 13 (3) DUTIES.—To carry out the functions enu- 14 merated in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall— 15 (A) support new programs and existing 16 programs by— 17 (i) making Federal grants authorized 18 under subsection (d); and 19 (ii)(I) acting as a clearinghouse on 20 techniques employed by new programs and 21 existing programs within the States, and 22 disseminating information relating to those 23 techniques to the programs; or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1666 IS (II) funding projects for information 1 gathering on those techniques, and dis- 2 semination of that information to the pro- 3 grams, by groups outside the Employment 4 and Training Administration; and 5 (B) facilitate the formation of new pro- 6 grams, in ways that include holding or funding 7 an annual conference of representatives from 8 States with existing programs, representatives 9 from States developing new programs, and rep- 10 resentatives from States without existing pro- 11 grams. 12 (c) PROGRAMS REGARDING EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP 13 AND PARTICIPATION.— 14 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later 15 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 16 Act, the Secretary shall establish a program to en- 17 courage new programs and existing programs within 18 the States to foster employee ownership and em- 19 ployee participation in business decisionmaking 20 throughout the United States. 21 (2) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The purpose of 22 the program established under paragraph (1) is to 23 encourage new and existing programs within the 24 States that focus on— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1666 IS (A) providing education and outreach to 1 inform employees and employers about the pos- 2 sibilities and benefits of employee ownership, 3 business ownership succession planning, and 4 employee participation in business decision- 5 making, including providing information about 6 financial education, employee teams, open-book 7 management, and other tools that enable em- 8 ployees to share ideas and information about 9 how their businesses can succeed; 10 (B) providing technical assistance to assist 11 employee efforts to become business owners, to 12 enable employers and employees to explore and 13 assess the feasibility of transferring full or par- 14 tial ownership to employees, and to encourage 15 employees and employers to start new em- 16 ployee-owned businesses; 17 (C) training employees and employers with 18 respect to methods of employee participation in 19 open-book management, work teams, commit- 20 tees, and other approaches for seeking greater 21 employee input; and 22 (D) training other entities to apply for 23 funding under this subsection, to establish new 24 programs, and to carry out program activities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1666 IS (3) PROGRAM DETAILS.—The Secretary may in- 1 clude, in the program established under paragraph 2 (1), provisions that— 3 (A) in the case of activities described in 4 paragraph (2)(A)— 5 (i) target key groups, such as retiring 6 business owners, senior managers, unions, 7 trade associations, community organiza- 8 tions, and economic development organiza- 9 tions; 10 (ii) encourage cooperation in the orga- 11 nization of workshops and conferences; and 12 (iii) prepare and distribute materials 13 concerning employee ownership and par- 14 ticipation, and business ownership succes- 15 sion planning; 16 (B) in the case of activities described in 17 paragraph (2)(B)— 18 (i) provide preliminary technical as- 19 sistance to employee groups, managers, 20 and retiring owners exploring the possi- 21 bility of employee ownership; 22 (ii) provide for the performance of 23 preliminary feasibility assessments; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1666 IS (iii) assist in the funding of objective 1 third-party feasibility studies and prelimi- 2 nary business valuations, and in selecting 3 and monitoring professionals qualified to 4 conduct such studies; and 5 (iv) provide a data bank to help em- 6 ployees find legal, financial, and technical 7 advice in connection with business owner- 8 ship; 9 (C) in the case of activities described in 10 paragraph (2)(C)— 11 (i) provide for courses on employee 12 participation; and 13 (ii) provide for the development and 14 fostering of networks of employee-owned 15 companies to spread the use of successful 16 participation techniques; and 17 (D) in the case of training described in 18 paragraph (2)(D)— 19 (i) provide for visits to existing pro- 20 grams by staff from new programs receiv- 21 ing funding under this section; and 22 (ii) provide materials to be used for 23 such training. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1666 IS (4) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue for- 1 mal guidance, for recipients of grants awarded under 2 subsection (d) and one-stop partners affiliated with 3 the Statewide workforce investment systems de- 4 scribed in section 106 of the Workforce Investment 5 Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2881), proposing that pro- 6 grams and other activities funded under this section 7 be— 8 (A) proactive in encouraging actions and 9 activities that promote employee ownership of, 10 and participation in, businesses; and 11 (B) comprehensive in emphasizing both 12 employee ownership of, and participation in, 13 businesses so as to increase productivity and 14 broaden capital ownership. 15 (d) GRANTS.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 17 established under subsection (c), the Secretary may 18 make grants for use in connection with new pro- 19 grams and existing programs within a State for any 20 of the following activities: 21 (A) Education and outreach as provided in 22 subsection (c)(2)(A). 23 (B) Technical assistance as provided in 24 subsection (c)(2)(B). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1666 IS (C) Training activities for employees and 1 employers as provided in subsection (c)(2)(C). 2 (D) Activities facilitating cooperation 3 among employee-owned firms. 4 (E) Training as provided in subsection 5 (c)(2)(D) for new programs provided by partici- 6 pants in existing programs dedicated to the ob- 7 jectives of this section, except that, for each fis- 8 cal year, the amount of the grants made for 9 such training shall not exceed 10 percent of the 10 total amount of the grants made under this sec- 11 tion. 12 (2) AMOUNTS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec- 13 retary shall determine the amount and any condi- 14 tions for a grant made under this subsection. The 15 amount of the grant shall be subject to paragraph 16 (6), and shall reflect the capacity of the applicant 17 for the grant. 18 (3) APPLICATIONS.—Each entity desiring a 19 grant under this subsection shall submit an applica- 20 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 21 and accompanied by such information as the Sec- 22 retary may reasonably require. 23 (4) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Each State may 24 sponsor and submit an application under paragraph 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •S 1666 IS (3) on behalf of any local entity consisting of a unit 1 of State or local government, State-supported insti- 2 tution of higher education, or nonprofit organization, 3 meeting the requirements of this section. 4 (5) APPLICATIONS BY ENTITIES.— 5 (A) ENTITY APPLICATIONS.—If a State 6 fails to support or establish a program pursu- 7 ant to this section during any fiscal year, the 8 Secretary shall, in the subsequent fiscal years, 9 allow local entities described in paragraph (4) 10 from that State to make applications for grants 11 under paragraph (3) on their own initiative. 12 (B) APPLICATION SCREENING.—Any State 13 failing to support or establish a program pursu- 14 ant to this section during any fiscal year may 15 submit applications under paragraph (3) in the 16 subsequent fiscal years but may not screen ap- 17 plications by local entities described in para- 18 graph (4) before submitting the applications to 19 the Secretary. 20 (6) LIMITATIONS.—A recipient of a grant made 21 under this subsection shall not receive, during a fis- 22 cal year, in the aggregate, more than the following 23 amounts: 24 (A) For fiscal year 2020, $300,000. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •S 1666 IS (B) For fiscal year 2021, $330,000. 1 (C) For fiscal year 2022, $363,000. 2 (D) For fiscal year 2023, $399,300. 3 (E) For fiscal year 2024, $439,200. 4 (7) ANNUAL REPORT.—For each year, each re- 5 cipient of a grant under this subsection shall submit 6 to the Secretary a report describing how grant funds 7 allocated pursuant to this subsection were expended 8 during the 12-month period preceding the date of 9 the submission of the report. 10 (e) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 11 reserve not more than 10 percent of the funds appro- 12 priated for a fiscal year to carry out this section, for the 13 purposes of conducting evaluations of the grant programs 14 identified in subsection (d) and to provide related technical 15 assistance. 16 (f) REPORTING.—Not later than the expiration of the 17 36-month period following the date of enactment of this 18 Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress 19 a report— 20 (1) on progress related to employee ownership 21 and participation in businesses in the United States; 22 and 23 (2) containing an analysis of critical costs and 24 benefits of activities carried out under this section. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •S 1666 IS (g) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 2 appropriated for the purpose of making grants pur- 3 suant to subsection (d) the following: 4 (A) For fiscal year 2020, $3,850,000. 5 (B) For fiscal year 2021, $6,050,000. 6 (C) For fiscal year 2022, $8,800,000. 7 (D) For fiscal year 2023, $11,550,000. 8 (E) For fiscal year 2024, $14,850,000. 9 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—There are 10 authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of 11 funding the administrative expenses related to the 12 Initiative, for each of fiscal years 2020 through 13 2024, an amount not in excess of— 14 (A) $350,000; or 15 (B) 5.0 percent of the maximum amount 16 available under paragraph (1) for that fiscal 17 year. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:27 Jun 04, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1666.IS S1666 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS