Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge Act

Summary: Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge Act or the WORK Act   This bill requires the Department of Labor to: (1) establish within the Employment and Training Administration an Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative to promote employee ownership and participation in business decisionmaking; and (2) establish a program that may include grants for outreach, technical assistance, and training to encourage new and existing state programs to foster employee ownership and participation in business decisionmaking.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Worker Ownership, Readiness, and 
Knowledge Act'' or the ``WORK Act''.

SEC. 2. WORKER OWNERSHIP, READINESS, AND KNOWLEDGE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Existing program.--The term ``existing program'' means 
        a program, designed to promote employee ownership and employee 
        participation in business decisionmaking, that exists on the 
        date the Secretary is carrying out a responsibility authorized 
        by this section.
            (2) Initiative.--The term ``Initiative'' means the Employee 
        Ownership and Participation Initiative established under 
        subsection (b).
            (3) New program.--The term ``new program'' means a program, 
        designed to promote employee ownership and employee 
        participation in business decisionmaking, that does not exist 
        on the date the Secretary is carrying out a responsibility 
        authorized by this section.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Labor, acting through the Assistant Secretary for Employment 
        and Training.
            (5) State.--The term ``State'' means any of the 50 States 
        within the United States.
    (b) Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative.--
            (1) Establishment.--The Secretary of Labor shall establish 
        within the Employment and Training Administration of the 
        Department of Labor an Employee Ownership and Participation 
        Initiative to promote employee ownership and employee 
        participation in business decisionmaking.
            (2) Functions.--In carrying out the Initiative, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    (A) support within the States existing programs 
                designed to promote employee ownership and employee 
                participation in business decisionmaking; and
                    (B) facilitate within the States the formation of 
                new programs designed to promote employee ownership and 
                employee participation in business decisionmaking.
            (3) Duties.--To carry out the functions enumerated in 
        paragraph (2), the Secretary shall--
                    (A) support new programs and existing programs by--
                            (i) making Federal grants authorized under 
                        subsection (d); and
                            (ii)(I) acting as a clearinghouse on 
                        techniques employed by new programs and 
                        existing programs within the States, and 
                        disseminating information relating to those 
                        techniques to the programs; or
                            (II) funding projects for information 
                        gathering on those techniques, and 
                        dissemination of that information to the 
                        programs, by groups outside the Employment and 
                        Training Administration; and
                    (B) facilitate the formation of new programs, in 
                ways that include holding or funding an annual 
                conference of representatives from States with existing 
                programs, representatives from States developing new 
                programs, and representatives from States without 
                existing programs.
    (c) Programs Regarding Employee Ownership and Participation.--
            (1) Establishment of program.--Not later than 180 days 
        after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
        establish a program to encourage new programs and existing 
        programs within the States to foster employee ownership and 
        employee participation in business decisionmaking throughout 
        the United States.
            (2) Purpose of program.--The purpose of the program 
        established under paragraph (1) is to encourage new programs 
        and existing programs within the States that focus on--
                    (A) providing education and outreach to inform 
                employees and employers about the possibilities and 
                benefits of employee ownership, business ownership 
                succession planning, and employee participation in 
                business decisionmaking, including providing 
                information about financial education, employee teams, 
                open-book management, and other tools that enable 
                employees to share ideas and information about how 
                their businesses can succeed;
                    (B) providing technical assistance to assist 
                employee efforts to become business owners, to enable 
                employers and employees to explore and assess the 
                feasibility of transferring full or partial ownership 
                to employees, and to encourage employees and employers 
                to start new employee-owned businesses;
                    (C) training employees and employers with respect 
                to methods of employee participation in open-book 
                management, work teams, committees, and other 
                approaches for seeking greater employee input; and
                    (D) training other entities to apply for funding 
                under this subsection, to establish new programs, and 
                to carry out program activities.
            (3) Program details.--The Secretary may include, in the 
        program established under paragraph (1), provisions that--
                    (A) in the case of activities described in 
                paragraph (2)(A)--
                            (i) target key groups, such as retiring 
                        business owners, senior managers, unions, trade 
                        associations, community organizations, and 
                        economic development organizations;
                            (ii) encourage cooperation in the 
                        organization of workshops and conferences; and
                            (iii) prepare and distribute materials 
                        concerning employee ownership and 
                        participation, and business ownership 
                        succession planning;
                    (B) in the case of activities described in 
                paragraph (2)(B)--
                            (i) provide preliminary technical 
                        assistance to employee groups, managers, and 
                        retiring owners exploring the possibility of 
                        employee ownership;
                            (ii) provide for the performance of 
                        preliminary feasibility assessments;
                            (iii) assist in the funding of objective 
                        third-party feasibility studies and preliminary 
                        business valuations, and in selecting and 
                        monitoring professionals qualified to conduct 
                        such studies; and
                            (iv) provide a data bank to help employees 
                        find legal, financial, and technical advice in 
                        connection with business ownership;
                    (C) in the case of activities described in 
                paragraph (2)(C)--
                            (i) provide for courses on employee 
                        participation; and
                            (ii) provide for the development and 
                        fostering of networks of employee-owned 
                        companies to spread the use of successful 
                        participation techniques; and
                    (D) in the case of training described in paragraph 
                (2)(D)--
                            (i) provide for visits to existing programs 
                        by staff from new programs receiving funding 
                        under this section; and
                            (ii) provide materials to be used for such 
                        training.
            (4) Guidance.--The Secretary shall issue formal guidance, 
        for recipients of grants awarded under subsection (d) and 1-
        stop partners affiliated with the statewide workforce 
        investment systems described in section 2(6) of the Workforce 
        Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101(6)), proposing 
        that programs and other activities funded under this section 
        be--
                    (A) proactive in encouraging actions and activities 
                that promote employee ownership of, and participation 
                in, businesses; and
                    (B) comprehensive in emphasizing both employee 
                ownership of, and participation in, businesses so as to 
                increase productivity and broaden capital ownership.
    (d) Grants.--
            (1) In general.--In carrying out the program established 
        under subsection (c), the Secretary may make grants for use in 
        connection with new programs and existing programs within a 
        State for any of the following activities:
                    (A) Education and outreach as provided in 
                subsection (c)(2)(A).
                    (B) Technical assistance as provided in subsection 
                (c)(2)(B).
                    (C) Training activities for employees and employers 
                as provided in subsection (c)(2)(C).
                    (D) Activities facilitating cooperation among 
                employee-owned firms.
                    (E) Training as provided in subsection (c)(2)(D) 
                for new programs provided by participants in existing 
                programs dedicated to the objectives of this section, 
                except that, for each fiscal year, the amount of the 
                grants made for such training shall not exceed 10 
                percent of the total amount of the grants made under 
                this section.
            (2) Amounts and conditions.--The Secretary shall determine 
        the amount and any conditions for a grant made under this 
        subsection. The amount of the grant shall be subject to 
        paragraph (6), and shall reflect the capacity of the applicant 
        for the grant.
            (3) Applications.--Each entity desiring a grant under this 
        subsection shall submit an application to the Secretary at such 
        time, in such manner, and accompanied by such information as 
        the Secretary may reasonably require.
            (4) State applications.--Each State may sponsor and submit 
        an application under paragraph (3) on behalf of any local 
        entity consisting of a unit of State or local government, a 
        State-supported institution of higher education, or a nonprofit 
        organization that meets the requirements of this section.
            (5) Applications by entities.--
                    (A) Entity applications.--If a State fails to 
                support or establish a program pursuant to this section 
                during any fiscal year, the Secretary shall, in the 
                subsequent fiscal years, allow local entities described 
                in paragraph (4) from that State to make applications 
                for grants under paragraph (3) on their own initiative.
                    (B) Application screening.--Any State failing to 
                support or establish a program pursuant to this section 
                during any fiscal year may submit applications under 
                paragraph (3) in the subsequent fiscal years but may 
                not screen applications by local entities described in 
                paragraph (4) before submitting the applications to the 
                Secretary.
            (6) Limitations.--A recipient of a grant made under this 
        subsection shall not receive, during a fiscal year, in the 
        aggregate, more than the following amounts:
                    (A) For fiscal year 2018, $300,000.
                    (B) For fiscal year 2019, $330,000.
                    (C) For fiscal year 2020, $363,000.
                    (D) For fiscal year 2021, $399,300.
                    (E) For fiscal year 2022, $439,200.
            (7) Annual report.--For each year, each recipient of a 
        grant under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary a 
        report describing how grant funds allocated pursuant to this 
        subsection were expended during the 12-month period preceding 
        the date of the submission of the report.
    (e) Evaluations.--The Secretary is authorized to reserve not more 
than 10 percent of the funds appropriated for a fiscal year to carry 
out this section for the purposes of conducting evaluations of the 
grant programs identified in subsection (d) and providing related 
technical assistance.
    (f) Reporting.--Not later than the expiration of the 36-month 
period following the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 
prepare and submit to Congress a report--
            (1) on progress related to employee ownership and 
        participation in businesses in the United States; and
            (2) containing an analysis of critical costs and benefits 
        of activities carried out under this section.
    (g) Authorizations of Appropriations.--
            (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
        for the purpose of making grants pursuant to subsection (d) the 
        following:
                    (A) For fiscal year 2018, $3,850,000.
                    (B) For fiscal year 2019, $6,050,000.
                    (C) For fiscal year 2020, $8,800,000.
                    (D) For fiscal year 2021, $11,550,000.
                    (E) For fiscal year 2022, $14,850,000.
            (2) Administrative expenses.--There are authorized to be 
        appropriated for the purpose of funding the administrative 
        expenses related to the Initiative, for each of fiscal years 
        2018 through 2022, an amount not in excess of--
                    (A) $350,000; or
                    (B) 5.0 percent of the maximum amount available 
                under paragraph (1) for that fiscal year.