The Department of Labor (DOL) announced a new initiative to help “create and promote business ownership by America’s workers.” The new Employee Ownership Initiative will fall under the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) as part of the Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act in SECURE 2.0.
“Worker ownership arrangements help create pathways for employees to earn a fair share of the profits that their labor makes possible and will play a critical role in the Biden-Harris administration’s fight to give workers a voice on the job and a seat at the table,” Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said in a statement. “This new Department of Labor initiative is an important step in implementing President Biden’s economic plan to empower workers and grow the economy from the middle out and the bottom up—not the top down.”
The new initiative includes the creation of the Division of Employee Ownership in EBSA’s Office of Outreach, Education, and Assistance. According to the announcement, the division will support the creation and expansion of worker-owned businesses by:
- Supporting existing programs designed to promote employee ownership and facilitating the formation of new programs.
- Developing a clearinghouse of techniques applied by new and existing state programs and sharing information about these techniques with states.
- Providing education, outreach, and training to inform employees and employers about the possibilities and benefits of worker ownership and business ownership succession planning.
- Providing technical assistance for employees’ efforts to become business owners and helping employers and employees explore the feasibility of transferring full or partial ownership to employees.
“By launching this initiative, the Employee Benefits Security Administration is working to help balance the distribution of power in America’s workplaces and empower the workers who fuel their employers’ ability to be successful day in, day out, while educating employers about how worker ownership can be good for business,” Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Lisa Gomez added.
EBSA will hold stakeholder meetings to gain critical feedback on how to best achieve the initiative’s goals and carry out the division’s activities. Separately, EBSA will also issue formal guidance on the valuation of employer stock in employee stock ownership plans, as required by the WORK Act.
