How employee ownership can pay bottom-line benefits. Today, more than 25 percent of American workers own stock in their employers. You can shop at employee-owned supermarkets such as Publix, buy Gore-Tex fabric from employee-owned W.L. Gore & Associates, and sip coffee served by employee owners at Starbucks. Now Corey Rosen, John Case, and Martin Staubus present convincing evidence that employee ownership can be much more than just a good benefit program. Done right, it can be the foundation for a new—and more effective—model of management. Drawing on first-hand studies of dozens of companies from large corporations to local retailers, the authors show that the “equity model” enables firms to grow faster and more profitably than conventionally run competitors. Vivid examples of both winning and failed attempts at employee ownership reveal the key concepts that make the model successful, and suggest how managers can adapt these strategies for use in their own companies. This lively and practical guide delivers a sound business case for making employees true partners in a firm’s success.

This book is intended to meet a range of different needs and to cater for different levels of knowledge about employee ownership. If you are considering making your company employee-owned or you are advising someone going through that process, and in either case are new to the topic, you can build up your knowledge levels from Chapter 1. Alternatively, the book can be used as a reference work if you have a particular question to answer. Some parts of the book will not be relevant to every reader. For example, several Chapters consider how employees can acquire shares personally: these will not be relevant to companies which intend their employee ownership only to be through an employee trust. The book is intended as practical guide rather than a highly detailed technical treatise. Its priority is to explain key issues in an accessible fashion and to raise awareness of where further exploration and advice may be important. Chapter 1 This Chapter looks at the background to employee ownership and why companies choose to become employee-owned. Chapter 2 Employee trusts are a key part of the structure of most employee-owned companies, as outlined in this Chapter. Individual share ownership is also introduced here, as some employee-owned companies combine ownership by an employee trust (which usually holds the majority of the company’s shares) with direct, individual ownership of shares by employees. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 goes more deeply into how employee trusts work and how the role of trustees as owners interacts with the role of the company’s directors. Chapter 4 In this Chapter, the key steps and decisions that will need to be made in establishing an employee trust are considered. Chapter 5 This Chapter starts to look in more detail at individual share ownership, in particular the ways in which employees can acquire shares personally, and provides a summary of the tax reliefs that are available for individual employees acquiring shares in their company. Chapter 6 Employee ownership trusts are a particular kind of employee trust, bringing particular tax reliefs. This Chapter considers these tax reliefs and the various conditions which must be satisfied. Chapter 7 Many companies become employee-owned through the existing owners transferring their shares to an employee trust. This Chapter looks at how to plan ownership succession in this way and some key questions that will need to be considered. Chapter 8 An employee ownership trust deed is likely to form the structural core of most employee-owned companies. This Chapter explains the key provisions that it will commonly include. Chapter 9 This Chapter considers the people issues which arise in a transition to employee ownership, and has been written by Jeremy Gadd. The next five Chapters look in more detail at how employees can acquire shares individually and may be of value to companies wishing to include individual share ownership alongside trust ownership. Chapters 10 and 11 look at two tax-advantaged all-employee share schemes. Chapter 10 The Share Incentive Plan (SIP) enables employees to purchase shares or receive free shares, in each case with relief against income tax. The SIP is an all-employee share scheme, which means that all employees must be allowed to participate in any offer of shares. This Chapter looks at the statutory requirements for operating a SIP and how it works in practice. Chapter 11 Save As You Earn (SAYE) options is another form of all-employee share scheme, under which employees can be granted options to acquire shares in the future and those employees who participate will save a monthly amount towards the option exercise price. This Chapter considers how SAYE options work. Chapters 12 and 13 look at tax-advantaged share schemes which do not need to involve all employees: Chapter 12 This Chapter looks at Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) options. For companies wishing to create personal share ownership for their key people, EMI options will often be the best place to start. There are particular eligibility requirements for EMI options. These are considered in this Chapter, which also discusses the key elements of an EMI scheme, and offers suggestions as to how EMI options can be structured. Chapter 13 An alternative to EMI options is the Company Share Option Plan (CSOP). This Chapter considers how the CSOP works. Chapter 14 This Chapter looks at other ways in which employees can acquire shares personally. Chapters 15 to 20 consider other legal, regulatory and taxation issues. Chapter 15 Where employees are to acquire shares (or cash) from an employee trust, it is important to ensure that this is structured in a way which does not fall foul of tax anti-avoidance rules which were introduced to counter what is commonly referred to as disguised remuneration. This Chapter looks at these provisions and how to keep on the right side of them. Failure to do so could result in a charge to income tax and National Insurance on the value of assets even though an employee has not acquired any definite ownership rights over them. Chapter 16 This Chapter sweeps up some other legal and regulatory matters not directly covered in previous Chapters. Chapter 17 This Chapter covers data protection requirements. Chapter 18 This Chapter covers phantom shares. Chapter 19 This looks at the interaction between corporation tax, employee trusts and different individual employee share schemes. Chapter 20 There are a number of registration and filing requirements with HM Revenue and Customs and the Registrar of Companies. This Chapter considers these and some continuing administration requirements and summarises the accounting treatment of employee trusts and employee share schemes.

Employee ownership firms offer workers the opportunity to own a stake in the firms where they work. This affords them the ability to share in profits and have a voice in firm-related decision-making. In this comprehensive new book, Kurtulus and Kruse provide new evidence on whether employee ownership firms are better equipped to survive recessions. In particular, they focus on broad-based employee ownership, which includes ownership at all levels in the firm’s hierarchy. The authors begin by defining what is meant by “employee ownership” and then discuss the prevalence of such firms in the United States. They also examine how employee ownership affects employment stability and why employee ownership firms have survived recessions more successfully than other firms. Kurtulus and Kruse conclude by saying that the benefits they observed in employee ownership firms, particularly the greater employment stability and survival rates, can help the overall economy. Therefore, increased government support to broaden employee ownership programs is merited.

"Rejecting the myth that short-term profits are the only indicator of business health and wealth, John Abrams shows how building a company to serve the needs of people (employees and owners), community, and the environment can be a successful business plan as well. Part entrepreneurial business plan, part guide to democratizing the workplace, and part prescription for strong local economies, The Company We Keep marks the debut of an important new voice in the literature of American business."--Publisher's description

The historical relationship between capital and labor has evolved in the past few decades. One particularly noteworthy development is the rise of shared capitalism, a system in which workers have become partial owners of their firms and thus, in effect, both employees and stockholders. Profit sharing arrangements and gain-sharing bonuses, which tie compensation directly to a firm’s performance, also reflect this new attitude toward labor. Shared Capitalism at Work analyzes the effects of this trend on workers and firms. The contributors focus on four main areas: the fraction of firms that participate in shared capitalism programs in the United States and abroad, the factors that enable these firms to overcome classic free rider and risk problems, the effect of shared capitalism on firm performance, and the impact of shared capitalism on worker well-being. This volume provides essential studies for understanding the increasingly important role of shared capitalism in the modern workplace.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan Answer Book covers the many regulations, interpretations, rulings, and cases that seek to interpret the laws governing the design, administration, and operation of ESOPs. This practical manual focuses on the nuts and bolts of ESOP design and mechanics so that professionals can find new and creative uses for the ESOP model. Employee Stock Ownership Plan Answer Book is written in simple, straightforward language and avoids technical jargon, and includes citations of authority if additional research is required. Employee Stock Ownership Plan Answer Book has been completely updated and revised. Highlights of the Fifth Edition include: A summary of advantages and disadvantages of ESOPs, the various planning opportunities ESOPs present, and the significant risks that should be considered An outline of the legal requirements for structuring an ESOP, primarily arising from the Internal Revenue Code A discussion of the rules for deducting various amounts contributed to an ESOP, distinguishing how such rules differ from rules in other types of retirement plans A discussion of the complex fiduciary duties and relationships inherent in the unique structure of an ESOP. More than any other type of retirement plan, fiduciaries of ESOPs run the risk of engaging in prohibited self dealing The issues that arise in valuing companies owned in whole or in part by an ESOP A detailed description of the special tax advantages for shareholders who sell their shares to an ESOP in a transaction that satisfies Code Section 1042, usually as part of a corporate ownership succession strategy An overview of the securities laws implicated by the employer securities held within an ESOP An explanation of ESOP leveraging - perhaps the most unique of the features of an ESOP - which allows the ESOP to be used by the sponsoring employer to obtain tax-advantaged corporate financing An in-depth look at special issues arising in ESOPs sponsored by Subchapter S corporations A discussion of the many uses of ESOPs in corporate merger and acquisition transactions, and the special treatment that often must be afforded to the ESOP fiduciaries who control the disposition of the employer securities held by the ESOP Previous Edition: Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) Answer Book, Fourth Edition ISBN 9781454810315