Co-determination Act of 2014 (Passed)

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I think it would have to be a voluntary pilot program by the way.

Give it two years, undertake a study to see the overall effectiveness on productivity, worker satisfaction etc - then, frankly, if it works, then there might not need to be the force involved that some Senators are advocating.

[Lumine]

I actually like Polnut's suggestion, a fully voluntary pilot program is something I could support in the sense that, as Cranberry pointed out, it would be an experiment rather than something more sudden that would have unforeseen consequences.

[TNF]

Alright, I'm open to suggestions as to how to make that work via an amendment.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

These are just musings and rumblings. Feel free to tinker - I'll wait to hear from people before officially presenting this as an amendment.

Co-determination Act of 2014

Section 1: Co-determination

1. All public companies, private limited liability companies, and private-public partnerships with over 2,000 employees represented by a labor union shall establish a two-tiered system that shall allow for greater worker representation in industry by no later than January 1, 2015. The aforementioned system shall be established along the guidelines established by this legislation. All public companies, private limited liability companies, and private-public partnerships with over 2,000 1,000 employees represented by a labor union shall will be invited to establish a two-tiered system through a national pilot program to determine the effectiveness of increased workforce participation in the management of these entities.

2. The primary method of co-determination in industry shall be the establishment of a two-tiered system of directorship for the firms mentioned in Section 1. Firms subject to this legislation shall establish supervisory boards primarily concerned with the general agenda of the firm in question. Supervisory boards shall consist of at least 20 members, 10 of which shall be elected by shareholders of the firm in question, and 10 of which shall be employee representatives, elected by members of the labor union responsible for representing the employees of the firm in question. Supervisory boards can be larger, so long as the proportional representation ratio of employee representatives and shareholder representatives are maintained. The chair of the supervisory board shall always be a representative of the shareholders of the firm in question and shall, in the case of a tie, have the right to cast a second vote to break said tie. The primary responsibility of all supervisory boards shall be the approval of all major business decisions and the election of members of the management board (to be described in Section 3). Those companies who qualify under section 1, will be required to institute an advisory panel made of 40% workforce, 40% existing management and 20% local community representatives. The Board must consist of at least 15 people. All decisions made by the managing Board of the entity must be supported by two-third's majority of the advisory panel. Note that for quorum to exist at least 50% of each group needs to be present to enable votes to proceed.

3. Supervisory boards shall elect a Management Board responsible for the day-to-day operations of all firms subject to this legislation. The size of management boards shall be the purview of Supervisory boards, who may establish boards as large or as small as they like, however, at least one seat must be reserved for a worker representative on said boards. The election of members of the Management Board shall be done by a 2/3rds vote of members of the Supervisory Board, and terms shall be no longer than five years in length. Members of the Management Board may be recalled at any time by members of the Supervisory Board, provided that at least 2/3rds agree to the recall of Management Board members, except in the case of gross negligence of duty (as determined by the Supervisory Board), willfully acting in defiance of the Supervisory Board's decisions (as determined by the Supervisory Board) or criminal action, wherein members may be recalled by a simple majority vote. The Advisory Panel is entitled to be informed and give advice on Management changes or changes in Board composition. However, the Advisory Panel can only remove Management Board members with a super-majority vote of 75% or higher. Approval of new Board members can be  done through the traditional two-thirds vote. Those entities, whose management Board goes against the decision of the Panel will be liable for an organisational tax penalty of $40,000 per event.

4. An ombudsman will be created within the Department of Internal Affairs to make determinations in the event of disagreement between Management and Advisory panels. These decisions will be legally binding on the organisation and all panel members.

4. All firms subject to this legislation shall establish Workers' Committees consisting of all workers subject to this legislation. Workers' Committees shall primarily be responsible for electing members of the Supervisory Board charged with representing employees and shall act as an adviser to labor representatives regarding working conditions, insurance, economic assistance, and other related issues at the individual plant or firm level. Workers' Committees shall be elected by all the workers employed in a plant represented by labor unions. Workers' Committees shall consist of various sub-committees charged with individual issues as referred by the labor union responsible for representing the workers. 5. The Advisory Panel will be able to create sub-committees to deal with specific issues arising out of the work of the main panel. These can be created at the discretion of the Panel, but cannot be constituted with one of the original three groupings having greater than 50% of representatives. They will report findings to the main Panel, but will possess no additional voting rights or powers.

6. The Advisory Panels will have a life of 24 months from the moment of inception and will provide a report to the Department of Internal Affairs for consideration of further action from the Senate at the conclusion. The reports will be focused on the economic and productivity performance of the business, as well as surveys of workforce satisfaction. Until the Senate has considered the reports and the effectiveness of the program, the Panels can be continued at the discretion of the entity.

Section 2: Implementation

This legislation shall go into effect 1 January 2015.

[TNF]

I like it, Polnut. Kudos for including local community representatives.

[Bacon King]

I support Polnut's amendments.

[Cranberry]

I certainly do so as well. It keeps the spirit of the bill, tights up some of the more complicated language, while establishing it as a pilot program. I'm very much for this.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I am now proposing this as an amendment.

[windjammer]

I support Polnut's plan as well.

[bore]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Proposed by: Polnut

Status: Friendly

Senators have 36 hours to object to this amendment.

[bore]

The amendment has passed.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I motion for a final vote.

[TNF]

I second.

[windjammer]

Thirded

[bore]

Senators, a final vote is now open on this bill, please vote aye nay or abstain

[windjammer]

Aye

[Cranberry]

Aye

[bore]

Aye

[TNF]

Aye

Really pleased with how this has turned out, although I would be more pleased if it were a mandatory thing. There's always the future, though.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

AYE

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Aye since it is voluntary

[bore]

This has enough votes to pass, senators have 24 hours to change their votes

[MyRescueKittehRocks]

Nay.there are responsibilities that management alone should have in the workplace and this act would undermine those abilities.

[windjammer]

Nay.there are responsibilities that management alone should have in the workplace and this act would undermine those abilities.

But why JCL? This is a pilot system. This is quite anti-libertarian not to let the companies to have the choice to choose their own system.

[bore]

This has passed by a vote of 6-1 and is now sent to the president for executive action

Aye: Bore. Yankee, polnut, TNF, Cranberry, Windjammer

Nay: JCL

Not voting: Bacon King, Cynic, Deus