MODEL
PLANS
Several
model plans are
well adequate for employee ownership and financial participation.
Model plans can facilitate things for companies, for employees
and for social partners, making the conception and design of employee
ownership and financial participation plans easier. They can also
be used by new countries, making things easier for policy makers
and legislation. Finally, they can help all countries of the European
Union to use coherent practices.
The ESOP-model plan from the USA is one of the bests, as well
as the Spanish "sociedades laborales" (employee-owned
companies).
You can get an excellent model plan for ESOPs from the NCEO (National
Center for Employee Ownership) - see on page http://www.nceo.org/pubs/model_esop.html
About the Spanish sociedades laborales, you can get all information
and documents in several languages on our dedicated website on
www.sociedades-laborales.net
At the beginning, this Spanish model was designed
for the rescue of failing enterprises and transfers of businesses;
it was later extended to starting companies. Spain has now some
20.000 sociedades laborales with some 110.000 employees. See also:
Anthony
Jensen, University of Sydney - Spain pioneers Sustainable Democratic
Corporate Governance Business Model with Sociedades Laborales
Furthermore, a "High Level Experts Group" committed
by the European Commission in 2003 gave some attention to the
idea of a model plan for transnational financial participation
plans in the European Union. Following this opinion, the IAFP
(International Association for Financial Participation) organised
a conference in Brussels on September 28-29, 2005. The conference
was able to discuss a draft
report on the "common
elements of an adaptable model plan for financial participation
in the European Union". Of course, this adaptable model
plan is based on the set of eight principles that the European
Commission defined some years ago (see on page "best
practices".
Finally,
workers' co-operatives are also a good example, the statute being
available in all countries of the European Union: see
our page on co-operatives.