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Worker representation on corporate boards of directors

Worker representation on corporate boards of directors, also known as board-level employee representation (BLER)[1] refers to the right of workers to vote for representatives on a board of directors in corporate law. In 2018, a majority of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and a majority of countries in the European Union, had some form of law guaranteeing the right of workers to vote for board representation. Together with a right to elect work councils, this is often called codetermination.

The first laws requiring worker voting rights include the Oxford University Act 1854 and the Port of London Act 1908 in the United Kingdom, the Act on Manufacturing Companies of 1919 in Massachusetts in the United States (although the act's provisions were completely voluntary), and the Supervisory Board Act 1922 (Aufsichtsratgesetz 1922) in Germany, which codified collective agreement from 1918 and expanded it in the 1976 Mitbestimmungsgesetz.[2]

Overview

There are three main views as to why codetermination exists: to reduce management-labour conflict by improving and systematizing communication channels;[3] to increase bargaining power of workers at the expense of owners by means of legislation;[4] and to correct market failures by means of public policy.[5] The evidence on "efficiency" is mixed, with codetermination having either no effect or a positive but generally small effect on enterprise performance.[6]

The following is a list of 35 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and their practices of worker representation on corporate boards of directors.[7]

Canada

During the 2021 federal election, Conservative Party leader Erin O'Toole pledged to require that federally regulated employers with over 1,000 employees or $100 million in annual revenue include worker representation on their boards of directors should he be elected Prime Minister.[17][18]

Germany

The first codetermination plans began at companies and through collective agreements.[19] Prior to 1976, German coal and steel producers employing more than 1,000 workers already commonly maintained a board of directors composed of 11 members: five directors came from management, five were workers' representatives, with the eleventh member being neutral. (Note: Boards could be larger as long as the proportion of representation was maintained.) In 1976, the law's scope was expanded to cover all firms employing more than 2,000 workers; with some changes concerning to the board structure, which has an equal number of management and worker representatives, with no neutral members (except in the Mining-and-steel industries where the old law remained in force). The new board's head would represent the firm's owners and had the right to cast the deciding vote in instances of stalemate. (The original law comprising coal-and-steel industries thus remained unchanged in force)[20]

New Zealand

The Companies Empowering Act 1924[21] allowed companies to issue shares for labour and have them represented by directors, but it was little used,[22] even its chief promoter, Henry Valder, being unable to get his company board to agree to it.[23] It was consolidated into the Companies Act in 1933.[24] The Law Commission recommended its abolition in 1988 for lack of use.[25] The Companies Act 1993 did not allow for labour shares.[26]

United Kingdom

In the UK, the earliest examples of codetermination in management were codified into the Oxford University Act 1854 and the Cambridge University Act 1856. In private enterprise, the Port of London Act 1908 was introduced under Winston Churchill's Board of Trade.[27]

While most enterprises do not have worker representation, UK universities have done so since the 19th century. Generally the more successful the university, the more staff representation on governing bodies: Cambridge,[28] Oxford,[29] Edinburgh, Glasgow and other Scottish universities,[30]

United States

Massachusetts has the world's oldest codetermination law that has been continually in force since 1919, although it is voluntary and only for manufacturing companies.[31][32]

Impact

A 2020 study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics found that codetermination in Germany had no impact on wages, the wage structure, the labor share, revenue, employment or profitability of the firm, but it increased capital investment.[33]

A 2021 Study by the Bureau of Economic Research found that "the European model of codetermination is neither a panacea for all of the problems faced by 21st-century workers, nor a destructive institution that is dramatically inferior to shareholder primacy. Rather, as currently implemented, it is a moderate institution with, on net, nonexistent or small positive effects. Board-level and shop-floor worker representation cause at most small increases in wages, possibly lead to slight increases in job security and satisfaction, and have largely zero or small positive effects on firm performance."[34]

History

Some of the first codetermination laws emerged in universities in the UK during the 19th century, such as the Oxford University Act 1854 and the Cambridge University Act 1856. Further acts included the South Metropolitan Gas Act 1896 (59 & 60 Vict. c. ccxxvi) and the Port of London Act 1908.[35] In Germany, there were experiments with worker representation through work councils over the late 19th century, after the first attempts to introduce worker voice by an ex-member of the Frankfurt Parliament named Carl Degenkolb.[36] At the end of World War I, the German trade unions made an historic collective agreement with representatives of German business for full partnership in economic management throughout the country. This was put into the Weimar Constitution article 165, and resulted in a work council law in 1920,[37] and a board representation law in 1922.[38] The fascist government abolished codetermination in 1934, but after World War II, German unions again made collective agreements to resurrect work councils and board representation. These agreements were codified in law in 1951 and 1952.[39]

In most countries around Europe, different forms board representation law spread slowly, especially from the 1970s. In the UK there were repeated experiments from iron and steel[40] to the post office,[41] with worker directors.[42] However, after the Bullock Report of 1977 failed to pass and Margaret Thatcher won the 1979 election, almost all worker participation was ended.[43] Germany recast and extended its laws in 1972 and 1976.[44] The European Commission did propose a Draft Fifth Company Law Directive, but it did not complete passage. In the United States, growing interest in worker "involvement" through Scanlon plans led to unions such as the United Steelworkers at Chrysler, or at United Airlines to negotiate board representation, although usually this was forcibly linked to employee share schemes. Notably, the share scheme at Enron failed in 2003. Almost all modern worker representation laws enable votes without any requirement to invest money. In 2013, France became the largest country to create a modern board representation law to mandate workers with equal rights to all other directors to be on boards.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Gold, Michael; Waddington, Jeremy (2019-09-01). "Introduction: Board-level employee representation in Europe: State of play". European Journal of Industrial Relations. 25 (3): 205–218. doi:10.1177/0959680119830556. ISSN 0959-6801. S2CID 159358979.
  2. ^ E McGaughey, 'The Codetermination Bargains: The History of German Corporate and Labour Law' (2016) 23(1) Columbia Journal of European Law 135
  3. ^ Prominent views of codetermination have thus been "social" in nature, concerned with expanding democratic participation in new spheres as a good in itself, reducing "alienation", and smoothing management-labour relations to prevent strong conflicts. A collection of views of this nature are found in Magazin Mitbestimmun Archived 2009-08-03 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ A conservative economic approach views codetermination as not benign: a political means for transfer of wealth from shareholders to employees and to increase power of political and perhaps union actors; as evidence it is noted firms rarely adopt codetermination voluntarily: see Pejovich, Svetozar. The economics of property rights: towards a theory of comparative systems. Chapter 8. Dordrecht, NL: Kluwer Academic, 1990.
  5. ^ Another economist argues that codetermination in effect corrects several market failures so lack of voluntary adoption cannot be viewed as evidence that codetermination is inefficient: see Stephen C. Smith, "On the economic rationale for codetermination law", Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation, Vol. 16 (December 1991), pp. 261-281.
  6. ^ For example see Felix R. Fitzroy and Kornelius Kraft, "Co-determination, efficiency and productivity", British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 43, No. 2 (June 2005), pp. 233-247.
  7. ^ See worker-participation.eu and Z Adams, L Bishop and S Deakin, CBR Labour Regulation Index (Dataset of 117 Countries) (Cambridge: Centre for Business Research 2016))
  8. ^ "Federal Act on the Labour Constitution and freedom of association (BGBl. 1974/22). Text 9" (PDF). Rechtsinformationssystem (RIS). Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  9. ^ See I Ferreras, Firms as Political Entities: Saving Democracy through Economic Bicameralism (2017)
  10. ^ "Co-operation Act (1333/2021)" (PDF). Government of Finland. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  11. ^ "DrittelbG - Gesetz über die Drittelbeteiligung der Arbeitnehmer im Aufsichtsrat". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  12. ^ "MitbestG - Gesetz über die Mitbestimmung der Arbeitnehmer". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  13. ^ "MontanMitbestG - nichtamtliches Inhaltsverzeichnis". www.gesetze-im-internet.de. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
  14. ^ "Worker Participation (State Enterprises) Act, 1977". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  15. ^ "Board Representation (Private Sector Employees) Act". Government of Sweden. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  16. ^ "Cambridge University Act 1856". Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  17. ^ "Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole to ensure Canadian workers have their voices heard". 23 August 2021.
  18. ^ Rendell, Mark (23 August 2021). "Conservatives pledge worker representation on boards, but union leaders remain skeptical about shift in approach". The Globe and Mail.
  19. ^ E McGaughey, 'The Codetermination Bargains: The History of German Corporate and Labour Law' (2016) 23(1) Columbia Journal of European Law 135, page 22
  20. ^ "MontanMitbestG - Gesetz über die Mitbestimmung der Arbeitnehmer in den Aufsichtsräten und Vorständen der Unternehmen des Bergbaus und der Eisen und Stahl erzeugenden Industrie". Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  21. ^ "Companies Empowering Act 1924 (15 GEO V 1924 No 52)". www.nzlii.org. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  22. ^ Parliament, New Zealand (1986). Parliamentary Debates. House of Representatives.
  23. ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Valder, Henry". teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  24. ^ "Companies Act 1933" (PDF).
  25. ^ "Preliminary Paper No. 5 COMPANY LAW A discussion paper" (PDF). 1988.
  26. ^ "Companies Act 1993 (1993 No 105)". www.nzlii.org. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  27. ^ E McGaughey, 'Votes at work in Britain: shareholder monopolisation and the ‘single channel’ (2018) 47(1) Industrial Law Journal 76, page 9.
  28. ^ Cambridge University Act 1856
  29. ^ Oxford University Act 1854
  30. ^ Higher Education Governance (Scotland) Act 2016 ss 10-11
  31. ^ "An Act To Enable Manufacturing Corporations To Provide For The Representation Of Their Employees On The Board Of Directors", General Acts of 1919, chapter 70, page 45, approved 3 April 1919.
  32. ^ E McGaughey, 'Democracy in America at Work: The History of Labor's Vote in Corporate Governance' (2019) 42 Seattle University Law Review 697
  33. ^ Jäger, Simon; Schoefer, Benjamin; Heining, Jörg (2020). "Labor in the Boardroom". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 136 (2): 669–725. doi:10.1093/qje/qjaa038.
  34. ^ Jäger, Simon; Noy, shakked; Schoefer, Benjamin (2021). "What Does Codetermination do?". NBER Working Paper Series. doi:10.3386/w28921. S2CID 235706486. working paper 28921.
  35. ^ E McGaughey, 'Votes at Work in Britain: Shareholder Monopolisation and the ‘Single Channel’' (2017) 46(4) Industrial Law Journal 444. See also JS Mill, Principles of Political Economy (1870) discussing, albeit very different, Henry Briggs & Son Co, incorporated 1865, which had an employee share plan and a worker director. South Metropolitan Gas Act 1896 extract in the London Gazette, abolished by the Gas Act 1948.
  36. ^ HJ Teuteberg, ‘Zur Entstehungsgeschichte der ersten betrieblichen Arbeitervertretungen in Deutschland’ (1960) 11 Soziale Welt 69. See the Arbeitsverordnung 1890, the first law enabling worker councils, but only on a voluntary basis. The Hilfsdienstgesetz 1916 was a war time requirement for worker councils in some industries.
  37. ^ Betriebsrätegesetz 1920
  38. ^ Aufsichtsratsgesetz 1922. E McGaughey, 'The Codetermination Bargains: The History of German Corporate and Labour Law' (2016) 23(1) Columbia Journal of European Law 135
  39. ^ E McGaughey, 'The Codetermination Bargains: The History of German Corporate and Labour Law' (2016) 23(1) Columbia Journal of European Law 135. See the Montan-mitbestimmungsgesetz 1951, the Betriesbrätegesetz 1952 and the Mitbestimmungsergänzungsgesetz 1956.
  40. ^ Iron and Steel Act 1967 Sch 4, Part V, created a negotiation process with trade unions in British Steel Corporation to introduce workers, put into effect from 1968. For its implementation, see: Bank, John, and Jones, Ken, Worker Directors Speak: The British Steel Corporation Employee Directors (Gower Press, Farnborough, 1977)
  41. ^ Post Office Act 1977 s 1(2) created worker directors for the Post Office by amending the Post Office Act 1969.
  42. ^ The Transport Act 1968 allowed the secretary of state to appoint members of the British Railways Board. In 1997, John Prescott appointed a worker director overseeing some aspects of the now privatised industry.
  43. ^ Transport Act 1985, privatised the bus networks. Employee share ownership plans were created by Labour councils as this happened, as a way to protect workers, though shares were quickly bought up by ordinary business owners.
  44. ^ The Betriebsverfassungsgesetz 1972, standardised law for one third employees on company boards with over 500 staff. The Codetermination Act 1976 required one half in large companies, but with the upper hand for shareholders. Now, the Drittelbeteiligungsgesetz 2004, BGBl. I S. 974, in German codified again, one third worker directors in companies with over 500 staff.

References

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External links

External links

EU Draft Fifth Company Law Directive