U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez Explores Employee Ownership

On March 18, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez hosted a group of 16 experts on employee ownership for a discussion titled "Not Just the Bottom Line: New Strategies for Inclusive Prosperity." The group included people with a wide variety of perspectives on employee ownership, ESOPs, and other forms of stock plans, including representatives of ESOP and other companies and critical voices from academia, the plaintiffs' bar, and elsewhere. Loren Rodgers participated on behalf of the NCEO.

Earlier that day, when the Secretary spoke at hearings of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce (see 1:27:31 to 12:29:10), he responded to a question about ESOPs by saying "ESOPs are a very effective way of helping people, whether it's the cashier at the grocery store or the owner of the grocery store, giving them the opportunity not only to build a nest egg but [to have] skin in the game....I think it can lead to a sense of shared prosperity. I look forward to working...to see if there is public policy we can undertake that can help expand and promote a model that I think has had real success in building wealth for working people across the country."

The meeting included vigorous discussions about the impact of employee ownership on companies and employees, ESOPs as retirement plans, ownership culture and employee inclusion, challenges around the role and identity of the ESOP trustee, the impact of stock-option expensing, and the role for employee voices in governance.