PROVIDENCE – The General Assembly has approved legislation to notify workers of their opportunity to organize a cooperative and make a bid to buy out their company in the event of a mass layoff or plant closing.
The Local Ownership Opportunity Act was designed as a method of preserving Rhode Island businesses and jobs. The legislation, which would take effect Sept. 1, has been sent to Gov. Gina M. Raimondo for approval.
The legislation would apply only to companies that are subject to the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which requires employers with 100 or more employees to give them notice of a plant closing or mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees at a single site.
In 2017, the General Assembly enacted a provision that enables the creation of worker cooperatives, which are employee-owned enterprises in which workers share profits and decision-making power.
The legislation mandates that when a WARN notification is required, the R.I. Department of Labor and Training will provide the affected employees with written notice they are legally allowed to submit a bid to purchase the company.