II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2412 

To establish an Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 2, 2014 

Mr. SANDERS (for himself, Mr. LEAHY, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish an Employee Ownership and Participation 

Initiative, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Worker Ownership, 

5 Readiness, and Knowledge Act’’ or the ‘‘WORK Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. WORKER OWNERSHIP, READINESS, AND KNOWL7 EDGE. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 (1) EXISTING PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘existing 

10 program’’ means a program, designed to promote 


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1 employee ownership and employee participation in 

2 business decisionmaking, that exists on the date the 

3 Secretary is carrying out a responsibility authorized 

4 by this section. 

5 (2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 

6 the Employee Ownership and Participation Initiative 

7 established under subsection (b). 

8 (3) NEW PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘new program’’ 

9 means a program, designed to promote employee 

10 ownership and employee participation in business de11 cisionmaking, that does not exist on the date the 

12 Secretary is carrying out a responsibility authorized 

13 by this section. 

14 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

15 the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Assistant 

16 Secretary for Employment and Training. 

17 (5) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means any of 

18 the 50 States within the United States of America. 

19 (b) EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP AND PARTICIPATION INI20 TIATIVE.— 

21 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Labor 

22 shall establish within the Employment and Training 

23 Administration of the Department of Labor an Em24 ployee Ownership and Participation Initiative to proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:24 Jun 05, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2412.IS S2412

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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 pro6 grams designed to promote employee ownership 

7 and employee participation in business decision8 making; and 

9 (B) facilitate within the States the forma10 tion of new programs designed to promote em11 ployee ownership and employee participation in 

12 business decisionmaking. 

13 (3) DUTIES.—To carry out the functions enu14 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 (II) funding projects for information 

25 gathering on those techniques, and disVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:24 Jun 05, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2412.IS S2412

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1 semination of that information to the pro2 grams, by groups outside the Employment 

3 and Training Administration; and 

4 (B) facilitate the formation of new pro5 grams, in ways that include holding or funding 

6 an annual conference of representatives from 

7 States with existing programs, representatives 

8 from States developing new programs, and rep9 resentatives from States without existing pro10 grams. 

11 (c) PROGRAMS REGARDING EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP

12 AND PARTICIPATION.— 

13 (1) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Not later 

14 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

15 Act, the Secretary shall establish a program to en16 courage new and existing programs within the 

17 States, designed to foster employee ownership and 

18 employee participation in business decisionmaking 

19 throughout the United States. 

20 (2) PURPOSE OF PROGRAM.—The purpose of 

21 the program established under paragraph (1) is to 

22 encourage new and existing programs within the 

23 States that focus on— 

24 (A) providing education and outreach to 

25 inform employees and employers about the posVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:24 Jun 05, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2412.IS S2412

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1 sibilities and benefits of employee ownership, 

2 business ownership succession planning, and 

3 employee participation in business decision4 making, including providing information about 

5 financial education, employee teams, open-book 

6 management, and other tools that enable em7 ployees to share ideas and information about 

8 how their businesses can succeed; 

9 (B) providing technical assistance to assist 

10 employee efforts to become business owners, to 

11 enable employers and employees to explore and 

12 assess the feasibility of transferring full or par13 tial ownership to employees, and to encourage 

14 employees and employers to start new em15 ployee-owned businesses; 

16 (C) training employees and employers with 

17 respect to methods of employee participation in 

18 open-book management, work teams, commit19 tees, and other approaches for seeking greater 

20 employee input; and 

21 (D) training other entities to apply for 

22 funding under this subsection, to establish new 

23 programs, and to carry out program activities. 


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1 (3) PROGRAM DETAILS.—The Secretary may in2 clude, in the program established under paragraph 

3 (1), provisions that— 

4 (A) in the case of activities under para5 graph (2)(A)— 

6 (i) target key groups such as retiring 

7 business owners, senior managers, unions, 

8 trade associations, community organiza9 tions, and economic development organiza10 tions; 

11 (ii) encourage cooperation in the orga12 nization of workshops and conferences; and 

13 (iii) prepare and distribute materials 

14 concerning employee ownership and par15 ticipation, and business ownership succes16 sion planning; 

17 (B) in the case of activities under para18 graph (2)(B)— 

19 (i) provide preliminary technical as20 sistance to employee groups, managers, 

21 and retiring owners exploring the possi22 bility of employee ownership; 

23 (ii) provide for the performance of 

24 preliminary feasibility assessments; 


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1 (iii) assist in the funding of objective 

2 third-party feasibility studies and prelimi3 nary business valuations, and in selecting 

4 and monitoring professionals qualified to 

5 conduct such studies; and 

6 (iv) provide a data bank to help em7 ployees find legal, financial, and technical 

8 advice in connection with business owner9 ship; 

10 (C) in the case of activities under para11 graph (2)(C)— 

12 (i) provide for courses on employee 

13 participation; and 

14 (ii) provide for the development and 

15 fostering of networks of employee-owned 

16 companies to spread the use of successful 

17 participation techniques; and 

18 (D) in the case of training under para19 graph (2)(D)— 

20 (i) provide for visits to existing pro21 grams by staff from new programs receiv22 ing funding under this section; and 

23 (ii) provide materials to be used for 

24 such training. 


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1 (4) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary shall issue for2 mal guidance, for recipients of grants awarded under 

3 subsection (d) and one-stop partners affiliated with 

4 the statewide workforce investment systems de5 scribed in section 106 of the Workforce Investment 

6 Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. 2881), proposing that pro7 grams and other activities funded under this section 

8 be— 

9 (A) proactive in encouraging actions and 

10 activities that promote employee ownership of, 

11 and participation in, businesses; and 

12 (B) comprehensive in emphasizing both 

13 employee ownership of, and participation in, 

14 businesses so as to increase productivity and 

15 broaden capital ownership. 

16 (d) GRANTS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 

18 established under subsection (c), the Secretary may 

19 make grants for use in connection with new pro20 grams and existing programs within a State for any 

21 of the following activities: 

22 (A) Education and outreach as provided in 

23 subsection (c)(2)(A). 

24 (B) Technical assistance as provided in 

25 subsection (c)(2)(B). 


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1 (C) Training activities for employees and 

2 employers as provided in subsection (c)(2)(C). 

3 (D) Activities facilitating cooperation 

4 among employee-owned firms. 

5 (E) Training as provided in subsection 

6 (c)(2)(D) for new programs provided by partici7 pants in existing programs dedicated to the ob8 jectives of this section, except that, for each fis9 cal year, the amount of the grants made for 

10 such training shall not exceed 10 percent of the 

11 total amount of the grants made under this sec12 tion. 

13 (2) AMOUNTS AND CONDITIONS.—The Sec14 retary shall determine the amount and any condi15 tions for a grant made under this subsection. The 

16 amount of the grant shall be subject to paragraph 

17 (6), and shall reflect the capacity of the applicant 

18 for the grant. 

19 (3) APPLICATIONS.—Each entity desiring a 

20 grant under this subsection shall submit an applica21 tion to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, 

22 and accompanied by such information as the Sec23 retary may reasonably require. 

24 (4) STATE APPLICATIONS.—Each State may 

25 sponsor and submit an application under paragraph 


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1 (3) on behalf of any local entity consisting of a unit 

2 of State or local government, State-supported insti3 tution of higher education, or nonprofit organization, 

4 meeting the requirements of this section. 

5 (5) APPLICATIONS BY ENTITIES.— 

6 (A) ENTITY APPLICATIONS.—If a State 

7 fails to support or establish a program pursu8 ant to this section during any fiscal year, the 

9 Secretary shall, in the subsequent fiscal years, 

10 allow local entities described in paragraph (4) 

11 from that State to make applications for grants 

12 under paragraph (3) on their own initiative. 

13 (B) APPLICATION SCREENING.—Any State 

14 failing to support or establish a program pursu15 ant to this section during any fiscal year may 

16 submit applications under paragraph (3) in the 

17 subsequent fiscal years but may not screen ap18 plications by local entities described in para19 graph (4) before submitting the applications to 

20 the Secretary. 

21 (6) LIMITATIONS.—A recipient of a grant made 

22 under this subsection shall not receive, during a fis23 cal year, in the aggregate, more than the following 

24 amounts: 

25 (A) For fiscal year 2015, $300,000. 


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1 (B) For fiscal year 2016, $330,000. 

2 (C) For fiscal year 2017, $363,000. 

3 (D) For fiscal year 2018, $399,300. 

4 (E) For fiscal year 2019, $439,200. 

5 (7) ANNUAL REPORT.—For each year, each re6 cipient of a grant under this subsection shall submit 

7 to the Secretary a report describing how grant funds 

8 allocated pursuant to this subsection were expended 

9 during the 12-month period preceding the date of 

10 the submission of the report. 

11 (e) EVALUATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

12 reserve not more than 10 percent of the funds appro13 priated for a fiscal year to carry out this section, for the 

14 purposes of conducting evaluations of the grant programs 

15 identified in subsection (d) and to provide related technical 

16 assistance. 

17 (f) REPORTING.—Not later than the expiration of the 

18 36-month period following the date of enactment of this 

19 Act, the Secretary shall prepare and submit to Congress 

20 a report— 

21 (1) on progress related to employee ownership 

22 and participation in businesses in the United States; 

23 and 

24 (2) containing an analysis of critical costs and 

25 benefits of activities carried out under this section. 


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1 (g) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

3 appropriated for the purpose of making grants pur4 suant to subsection (d) the following: 

5 (A) For fiscal year 2015, $3,850,000. 

6 (B) For fiscal year 2016, $6,050,000. 

7 (C) For fiscal year 2017, $8,800,000. 

8 (D) For fiscal year 2018, $11,550,000. 

9 (E) For fiscal year 2019, $14,850,000. 

10 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—There are 

11 authorized to be appropriated for the purpose of 

12 funding the administrative expenses related to the 

13 Initiative, for each of fiscal years 2015 through 

14 2019, an amount not in excess of— 

15 (A) $350,000; or 

16 (B) 5.0 percent of the maximum amount 

17 available under paragraph (1) for that fiscal 

18 year. 

Æ 


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