Activities of Sari ESSAYAH related to 2013/2127(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Financial participation of employees in companies' proceeds (short presentation)
Amendments (34)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Believes that, in order to promote financial participation aimed at creating a new form of company financing and enabling employees to be more connected to the company that employs them, employers should be given the opportunity to offer employees share capital subscriptions or specific debt securities (bonds) should be offered; takes the view that the capital subscriptions should be voluntary for the employee, either individually or in a group;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A – indent 1
Recital A – indent 1
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A – indent 2
Recital A – indent 2
– sharing in profits, whether in the form of cash, shares or benefits, particularly for SMEs and micro-enterprises or non-listed companies, which can reward success or exceptional performance, supplement workers’ incomes and boost their spending power, with a direct economic spill-over into the local economy;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas there are three mainvarious EFP models forwhich a company to choose from:may offer, such as profit sharing (cash-based, deferred or in shares), individual employee share ownership (employee shares or stock options), special benefits in line with the company’s reward practices, and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPsS); whereas EFP can be in the form of shares or cash;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 4
Paragraph 2 – subparagraph 4
Takes the view that subscriptions by former workers whose employment contract has been terminated before time due to a company crisis (who thus intshould be givend to finance voluntarily, in association, the initiation or resumption of business by the beneficiary company, with their savings or unemployment benefits) should be directed towards the re-employment of those former workers; considers that, in any case, the relevant legislation should be different for listed companiehe same treatment, in respect of shares subscribed and share subscriptions agreed upon up to their date of leaving, as other shareholders;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas EFP, particularly in the form of ESOPs or partial ownership, can act as a shock absorber, allowing bonuses or other forms of supplementary pay or reward to be managed in trusts by third parties, spreading the investment risk andmong the company’s principal shareholders and also ensuring that workers have a potrtfolio of savailable moneyed shares that they can access in times of hardship, creating additional financial security for workers; alternatively the value of the shares may be reduced when times are hard;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas job security is improved by employee buy-out options, which can help workersif the employees obtain from the company’s owners a priority buy-out right, and are thus able to take over companies in financial difficulty, they may seek to safeguarding their own jobs and this procedure may reducinge uncertainty fromabout their continued employment as a result of possible buyouts by other companies, and which; whereas employee ownership may address company succession problems, that can often result in companies being closed downas a company is often closed down or sold off for possible rationalisation or closure when succession is not possible; whereas this isprocedure may be helpful in particular for SMEs and micro enterprises in securing the continuation of sustainable commercial operation;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Notes that, as indicated before the financial crisis, remunerationward policies that encourage excessively risky behaviour can undermine the sound and efficient management of credit institutions and investment funds;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas EFP reduces short-termism in strategic decision-making by managermay increase employees’ interest in long-term commitment and in seeking innovative solutions in the production process and can thus bring stability, development and growth while reducing risks of over- expansion leading to job losses, though it should be noted that employees do not necessarily have specialist skills in the executive sphere or in enhancing inter- company competition;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1
Paragraph 4 – subparagraph 1
Believes that any measure relating to the financial participation of employees in company income should be sustainable in the long term and be on a voluntary basis, especially for SMEs.
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas investing in training allows companies with financial participation schemes which link workers directly to the company to feel more confident that they will retain skilled workers; whereas this creates an incentive for employers to invest in the training of their workforce, given the greaterfinancial participation schemes encourage investment in training, as they increase the likelihood of themcompanies retaining skilled workers in the long term;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas both employee ownership and profit-sharing modelworkers’ financial participation in the company’s profits can deliver significant improvements in employees’ job satisfaction, psychological well-being and overall performance and motivation;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas encouraging employees to develop a sense of ownership and responsibility increases their feeling of inclusion and the likelihood that their employerscompany will engage with them and understandtake account of their concerns, perspectives and ideas;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas employeeany participation in management through voting rights or other forms of governance canoffered by employers to employees’ representatives through voting rights, the right to be present or other forms of governance can improve the flow of information and help employees to have a better understanding of the situation when their company faces challenges and can also give them a greater appreciation and thus an ability to accesscut pay and other rewards when the company is doing wellbadly;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas EFP is affected by national taxation rules, and whereas it is not appropriate to develop a comprehensive ‘one size fits all’ model for EFP at EU level; whereas EFP must be carefully decided upon by the company and its workers taking due account of the wider national and sectoral context; whereas, however, a core set of basic principles could achieve public confidence and help EFP deliver on its objectivesstems from an initiative of the employer and, in such a case, the workers should be consulted and must themselves carefully consider the initiative in question, taking due account of the wider national and sectoral context;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Member States to consider the transnational obstacles facing both companies offering schemes to employees in several Member States, and employees, for whom double taxation may represent an infringement of the right to freedom of movementPoints out that companies offering schemes to employees in several Member States may encounter divergent national rules and usages, preventing schemes from being offered in the same form in different Member States, and that, for example, double taxation of employees may pose an obstacle;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Emphasises the importance of mutual recognitionat in some cases it might be useful to bring about the gradual convergence of existing financial participation schemes, asnd this may help employees also to invest ine related national legislation so as to enable employers in future to offer schemes in other Member Stat same or a similar form in all Member States where they have employees;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Insists that the lack of information about existing financial participation schemes could be offset by greater transparencyincreasing the quantity of information lending itself to comparison at international level, which would reduce costs for both larger companies and SMEs, enabling them to engage inoffer employee participation schemes that meet their particular needs;
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States to consider appropriate national measures to encourage companies to develop and implement voluntary, acting voluntarily, to develop and offer EFP schemes, open to all employees on a non-discriminatory basis, taking into account the specific situation of SMEs and micro-enterprises; calls on the Member States to step up exchanges of best practice in this regard;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States to engage employee ownership organisations and stakeholders more closely in dialogue between policy makers, employers and workers’ representatives, including the social partners where relevant, in order to ensureto engage in social dialogue on this subject in order that existing examples of best practice at national level armay be taken into account in the development of national policies to facilitate the implementation of EFP by businesses;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Eagerly anticipates the results of the pilot project and the evaluation on setting up ‘European Centres for Employee Ownership’; asks the Commission to consider what can be done to furthasks the Commission to offer idevelop participation in EFP schemes and offer guidanceas to Member States on possiblearticipation mechanisms to do so in light of this pilot project;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Considers that the EU should refrain from regulating the ways in which employee remuneration schemes may be organised in Member States;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point a
Paragraph 11 – point a
(a) objective-led: companies and their workers must agree onshould determine the objectives of an EFP scheme in order to determine which model is the most appropriate for them and to have the best chance of achieving the desired outcome;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point b
Paragraph 11 – point b
(b) flexible in operation and voluntary: EFP operates differently in different sectors, companies of different sizes and types, and different Member States; the decision to develop and implement an EFP scheme should therefore lie with the individual company or employer in conjunction with employees, in the light ofand should be taken in such a way that employees are consulted on their opinion, existing national law and practice, and depending onre adhered to and the company’s financial situation is taken into account;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point c
Paragraph 11 – point c
(c) additional/complementary to contractual remuneration: although any EFP model should be ahave the aim of providing extra income in addition to a worker’s basic pay and contractual rights, not a substitute for these rightssystems may also be incorporated by which of which employees bear a share of the risk that the company may be less successful than anticipated;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point d
Paragraph 11 – point d
(d) voluntary for employees: EFP is a means by which employees are offered a choice about how to benefit from a closer financial relationship with their employercompany; ultimately this has to be both optional for an individual worker to opt in and out of, but equally available to the whole workforce of a companyand although the scheme may treat different employees and groups of employees in different ways, the team spirit within the company would be increased if everybody could participate in it equally and on a non- discriminatory basis in order to achieve genuine inclusion;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point e
Paragraph 11 – point e
(e) negotiated by social partners: where national practices and traditions include social partners at company level, EFP schemes should be negotiated by the relevant social partners, on a local ‘plant- by-plant’ basis in orderthey should be heard in order for the scheme to be tailored to the specific conditions and circumstances of the company and its workforce; considers that such schemes should always be open to all workers, including those who are not members of the trade union responsible for negotiating the conditions of an EFP schemenot discriminate against employees for belonging to a trade union or on any other ground for discrimination listed in Article 10 TFEU;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point f
Paragraph 11 – point f
(f) clear information must be given to employees on the risks and rights attached to opting into an EFP scheme: the decision to join an EFP scheme should be based on the informed consent of an employee, given in the full knowledge of their entitlements and obligations when joining a scheme and the conditions which apply when they leave the company or the scheme under any circumstances;
Amendment 84 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11 – point g
Paragraph 11 – point g
(g) involvement in governance: schemes may include thas part of a scheme, an employer may invite a worker or workers to become directly involvement of a workerd in the governance of a company; where this is the case, rights and responsibilities should be clearly defined before such a responsibilities are agreed tole role is taken on;
Amendment 94 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Welcomes the shift in the attitude of trade unions towards EFP, which has become more positive, and encourages social partners to continue working together to develop new opportunities and innovations at the relevant levels7; __________________ 7 ”Employee financial participation in companies” proceeds' (PE 475.098), s. 35.
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Encourages the Member States to develop, in partnership with employee ownership organisations, single to develop information portals – one stop shops – accessible to employers and employees, to explain the benefits and advantages of EFP, national support or incentives available and the different models which exist, in order to allow employers and workers to become more aware and make better use of advantages arising from EFP schemes and to allow employers to better assess the options available to them and the challenges of entering into an EFP scheme;