Summary
What It Is
The Federal is the level of governance that concerns the affairs over and between, but not within the Units and the affairs outside the business. The governing powers are distributed into separate branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch is comprised of two houses, the Owner’s Board of Directors and the popularly elected Worker’s Senate. The chief executive, the President, is appointed by the Board and confirmed by the Senate. The judicial branch oversees the separation of workers from the business, disputes between Units, review of laws, and so forth.
What Problem It Solves
The federal approach allows a business to grow while maintaining the agility, creativity, and collegiality of small business, but still obtaining the greater enterprise capacities of large business. It does this without the stifling bureaucracy present in many large businesses built with unitary governance structures.
Discussion
The Federal is modeled from the United States Constitution. For ease in writing, the format of this article follows the Constitution. Many of its words are exact or modified quotes from the Constitution. It is hoped that this will also help the reader familiar with the Constitution to more quickly grasp the concepts of the Liberty Workforce mode.
Positions of power attract people who wish to exercise power. Some of these people inadvertently or purposefully abuse that power. At the Unit level, workers generally know each other and can more easily combine to limit the powers of a Unit despot. A few simple tools are all they need to handle things at that level. But, at the Federal level, it is extremely difficult to curb or eliminate a despot without strong, helping mechanisms. Therefore, at the Federal level, to contain and prevent abuses, it is very important to create mechanisms that check the powers of executives and that increase the workers’ power to balance that of the executives’. While it might appear that all this detail and complexity is unneeded, it is similar to insurance: you hope you never need it, but it makes it easier to recover from disaster if you do. And more than insurance, the very threat of these mechanisms will prevent the need to use them in many cases.
Federal Executive Branch
President
Selection and Confirmation of the President
With the approval of the Worker Senate, the Owner’s Board of Directors shall appoint the President.
Note: In the United States, we have departed from the long held concept that citizens with property should be the only voters. For a nation, this is proper. However, in business where the owners might arguably have the most at risk, the traditional approach of having the owners select the leader probably is better. This also reduces the inefficiencies of campaigning that are a part of the process of popularly electing presidents.
This traditional approach is modified to conform to the law of common consent of the governed by requiring the owner’s selection of the president to be approved by the Worker’s Senate. The Senate was chosen to represent the consent of all the workers rather than have a consent vote of all the workers. It is likely that the workers will not be familiar enough with the candidate to make a good determination. Therefore, the task of learning about the candidate and deciding whether the candidate is acceptable is best delegated to the Senate.
Powers of the President
The President shall have power to:
- Review legislation (approve/veto). Every bill which shall have passed the Board and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to Congress, who shall proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, two thirds of the Senate and two thirds of the Board shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall become a Law. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it.
Note: The infamous “pocket veto” is eliminated. It was not the intent of the Founders to give the President absolute veto power. As the President has to execute the laws passed by Congress, it is fair to allow him to comment on a bill before it becomes law.
- Grant reprieves and pardons for offenses
- Confirm the conviction of an impeachment of a Judge
- With the advice of the Board, make agreements with persons or entities outside the business, provided that two-thirds of the Directors present concur.
- By and with the consent of the Board and the Senate, appoint Judges of the Supreme Court, Vice-Presidents, and Principal Federal Officers.
- Appoint Unit Leaders with the consent of the Board and with the consent of three-fourths of the unit workers voting, if the unit has workers, or with the consent of the Senate, if the unit does not yet have workers (e.g., a newly formed unit).
Note: In a vein similar to the reasoning for having the owners select the President, it makes sense to have the President select the Unit Leaders. This extends the desired leadership of the owners down into the Unit. Beyond this, in the work groups, the leaders are popularly elected. Still, even with the Unit Leaders, the law of common consent is preserved by having the workers vote to accept the Unit Leader.
The percentage ofconsenting worker votes should be much higher than a simple majority. A leaderwho can only command a 51% approval of the workers would not be a goodselection. Maybe it should be even higher than the 75% stated here.
- Require reports from federal officers and unit leaders
- Provide Congress information on the state of the business
- Summit legislation to Congress for their consideration
- On extraordinary occasions, he may convene Congress
- Take care that the Constitution and the Laws are faithfully executed.
Succession in Presidency
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 1st Vice-President until a new President is appointed and confirmed. In case of the removal of the President and 1st Vice-President from office, or of their death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the 2nd Vice-President until a new President is appointed and confirmed.
Vice-Presidents
Selection and Confirmation of the Vice-Presidents
With the approval of the Worker Senate and the Owner’s Board of Directors, the President shall appoint the 1st and 2nd Vice-Presidents.
Note: Vice-Presidents are appointed as the growthof the business demands it. They are the President’s “right hand men”. Besidescounseling with the President on decisions, they act as Presidential “clones”extending the capacity of the President in the business. They do not have anyworkers directly reporting to them.
Powers of the Vice-Presidents
The Vice-Presidents shall have the power to:
- Assist the president in the discharge of his functions, as directed by the president
- Under assignment of the President, mentor Unit Leaders and Principal Federal Officers under and act as a liaison between them and the President.
Note: WhileUnit Leaders and Principal Federal Officers report directly to the President,the units and federal offices are divided up between the President and theVice-Presidents so that each is assigned to one of the Presidency. In this capacity,the Vice-Presidents act as mentors to the unit leaders and principal federalofficers and as a liaison (facilitator, not messenger) between them and thePresident and other units and federal offices.
Cabinet of the President
The Cabinet shall be comprised of the Principle Federal Officers. These are officers are the heads of functions (Sales & Marketing, R&D, HR, Finance, etc.)
Executive Term of Office
The term of office for the President, the Vice-Presidents, and Principle Federal Officers shall be four years, beginning on the same date.
Note: To give the President the power to actindependently according to what he thinks best, he insulated from the whims ofCongress by requiring a rather onerous impeachment process to remove him and bynot allowing any changes in his compensation during his term in office. Thismakes it less likely that his ability to effective lead will be hamstrung bythe owners. However, to check this freedom, a term of office is instituted. Itis worth the effort to eliminate a really bad President through the impeachmentoffice, but not a mediocre one. A term is an easy way to deal with this laterpossibility. If Congress does not like the performance of the President, theysimply do not renew his contract at the end of the term.
Executive Compensation
The Salary and Benefits of the President, the Vice-Presidents, and Principle Federal Officers shall be agreed between each Executive and Congress upon at the beginning of the term and shall not be modified during the term. The agreement shall specify the disposition of these emoluments if impeached and convicted.
Note: The non-modification clause is necessary togive the executive officers the independence necessary to succeed. If Congresscould induce them to follow their wishes by threatening to lower or offering toincrease their compensation, it would significantly reduce the separation ofpower and effectively create a business run by committee.
Staff in the Executive Branch
The organization of the staff of the Presidency and the Principle Federal Officers shall be the work group and the unit structure. Where the number of workers in a staff does not exceed the number set forth by Congress for work group, all the workers shall be in one work group, and the President or Officer, as the case may be, shall be the group leader. Where the number of workers in the staff exceeds this number, then Congress shall create a new Unit and the President or Officer, as the case may be, becomes the Unit leader.
Note: One of the negative associations its citizens have with the US Federal government is its bureaucracy. This is not a fault of the federal concept, but a fault of government for not utilizing the federal concept in the design of the executive branch. This clause requires the federal executive branch of the business to follow the same organizing theory as the rest of the business by establishing work groups and units as the federal staff grows. This will keep the Federal from becoming bureaucratic. If the Federal were ever to grow so large, then a unit like an other would be formed. If the staff were to grow beyond a unit size, then a regular autonomous unit would be created with its own unit leader and the Officer becoming the division leader.
Removal of the President, Vice-Presidents, and Principal Federal Officers
By the President
The President has the power to remove workers from their positions as Vice-Presidents, Principal Federal Officers, and Unit Leaders, but does not have power to separate them from the Workerle.
By the Congress
The President, Vice-Presidents, and Principal Federal Officers shall be removed by Congress through an impeachment process
Supreme Court
The Court System, Term of Office, and Compensation
The judicial power of the Workerle shall be vested in one Supreme Court, in a Court in each Unit, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
Court Jurisdictions
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the Workerle, and Agreements made, or which shall be made, under their authority;
- To controversies to which the Workerle shall be a party;
- To controversies between two or more Units; or between workers of different Units;
In all the Cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In Cases where a Unit Court has original jurisdiction, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
Trial by Jury
A trial of a worker involving a reduction in distributions to a worker or other compensations and benefits or involving the separation of a worker from the Workerle, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury.
Congress
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress, which shall consist of a Board of Directors and a Worker Senate.
Note: The term “Board of Directors” is used here to represent the owner’s decision makers. This is the case for corporate forms of ownership. For non-corporate forms of ownership, substitute the owner’s decision makers wherever the term “Board” or “Board of Director” appears.
There is no referendum or initiative process where theworkers can create or change laws. Most such efforts would still have to beapproved by the Board, so in effect, no true referendum or initiative ispossible. It is felt that if such efforts were allowed, but the results voteddown by the Board, it would have a discouraging effect on the democraticparticipation of the workers. It is felt that it would be better to have theworkers go through their Senators and have the Senate deal with the Board.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
Worker Senate
Composition and Term of Office
The Worker Senate shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the Workers of the several Units.
Qualifications
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have been two years a member of the Workerle, and who shall not, when elected, be a worker of that Unit in which he shall be chosen.
No Senator shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any position in the Workerle, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Federal Office in the Workerle, shall be a Member of Senate during his Continuance in Office.
Note: This is so Senators don’t take advantage of their position to benefit themselves.
No Senator shall be a member of or have any association with any organization which seeks to influence the direction or decisions of the Business or which advocates particular views about the Business.
Note: In other words, no “political” parties are allowed. By keeping the ratio of workers per Senator or elector small and using a sequential vote or a ranked voting method such as instant runoff voting, there will not be the need for a party to winnow down the numbers of candidates.
Apportionment
Senators shall be apportioned among the several Units which may be included within this Workerle, according to their respective numbers of workers. The number of Senators shall not exceed one for every 50 workers, but each Unit shall have at least one Senator.
Note The ratio changes as the business grows.Starting with two units, choose a ratio that yields about six Senators. Keepthe ratio the same until there are twelve Senators. Then (if not already there)let the ratio increase to 1:50. Keep it at this ratio until there are 100Senators. From there, let the ratio increase as needed to keep the Senatelimited to 100 Senators. When the ratio exceeds the point where the workerspersonally know the Senator, then an electoral college should be instituted.The idea is that the worker should already personally know who they are votingfor whether the Senatorial or electoral candidates. This will help reduceelectioneering and increase voter participation.
Workers not part of any unit (e.g., Federal workers) shall also be apportioned Senators at this same ratio, but shall have a least one Senator.
Senatorial Procedures
Officers: The Worker Senate shall choose their Speaker and other Officers.
Review of Elections: The Senate shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its Members.
Quorum: Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as it may provide.
Rules: The Senate may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Records: The Senate shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Elections
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators, shall be prescribed in each Unit by the Legislature thereof; but the Senate may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.
Compensation and Privilege
The Senators shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the Workerle which shall not be diminished nor increased during the Time for which he was elected. They shall in all Cases be privileged to attend at the Session of the Senate; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
Note: The job of a Senator is envisioned to bepart-time. They should not really have to be paid extra to do this job inaddition to their normal work. Some allowances must be made to their normalwork to allow the Senator to perform their role. But, there should be someinconvenience to the Senator (e.g., works longer hours than most workers becausehe is doing his normal job and the Senator job) to keep a natural limit to theamount of time a Senator spends. But, if a Senator can take leave from hisnormal work for however long the Senator work requires, then Senate work willexpand to be so near full-time like it is with US and state legislators. Thiswould be an inefficient use of workerle resources and likely cause resentmentin the workers who are paying for the Senator’s inefficiencies. Make itpossible for the Senators to do their legislative job, but don’t make it tooeasy.
Trial of Impeachments
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments of the President, a Vice-Presidents, a Principal Federal Officer. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside. And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
The Senate shall have sole Power to impeach a Federal Judge. The Senate shall try the impeachment of the Judge. No Judge shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Upon the confirmation of the conviction by the President, the judgment against the Judge shall be imposed.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than one or more of the following:
1) Removal from Office
2) Disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor or Trust in the Workerle
3) Separation from the Workerle.
Board of Directors
Composition, Rules, etc.
The Ownerle Board of Directors shall be as set forth in the Ownerle Charter and Bylaws. [if not a corporation, then the duties of the Board would be performed by the owners or their designees]
Power of Impeachment
The Ownerle Board of Directors shall have the sole Power of Impeachment of a President, Vice-Presidents, or Principal Federal Officer.
Time of Meeting
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the second Monday in January unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Review by the President
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Board of Directors and Worker Senate may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the Workerle; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two thirds of the Board of Directors and Worker Senate, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Powers of Congress
The Board of Directors and the Worker Senate shall have power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the following Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Federal Government, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Powers Shared by the Worker Senate and the Board of Directors
The Congress shall have Power To:
- Provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the Business
- Regulate Commerce with customers and clients, and among the several Units
- Determine business direction and strategy
- Promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts;
- Establish communication and transportation systems for the business;
- Create mergers with other businesses
- Create new Units
- No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Unitment and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
- All Appropriation Bills (i.e., budgets) shall originate in the Worker Senate; but the Board of Directors may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Congressional Powers Requiring Worker Approval: With the approval of the workers party to the action, Congress shall have power to sell all or any portion of the business, to lay-off workers, to divide Units, to merge Units, and to dissolve any Unit. A bill for such an action will require worker approval as detailed below.
- For selling a portion of the business or for dissolving a Unit wherein workers will be separated from the Workerle, of three-fourths of the workers in the portion being sold or the Unit being dissolved;
- For selling a portion of the business or for dissolving a Unit wherein workers will remain in the Workerle without re-location and with similar responsibilities, of a simple majority of the Unit Legislatures over the portion being sold or the Unit being dissolved;
- For selling the whole business wherein the Workerle will be dissolved or for lay-offs, of three-fourths of the workers in the Workerle.
- For merging or dividing Units, of a simple majority of the Legislatures in the Units being merged or divided.
- Where the bill fails to obtain the required worker approval, the Congress may reconsider the bill. If after such reconsideration, three-fourths of the Senate and three-fourths of the Board shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall become a Law.
Powers of the Worker Senate Alone
The Senate shall have Power to:
- Constitute Federal Tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
- Exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over Federal workers who are not part of a Unit.
- Establish a uniform Rule of Workerle membership, [i.e., hiring and firing of workers]
- Borrow Money on the credit of the Workerle
Powers of the Board of Directors Alone
The Board shall have Power to:
- Borrow Money on the credit of the Ownerle;
- To sell the entire business when the buyer accepts the terms of the current Ownerle-Workerle lease.
General Provisions
Obligations of the Federal
The Federal shall guarantee to every Unit in this Workerle a Republican Form of Government
Note Definition of Republican: a democracy ofevery worker with rule by law. It includes elements such as separation ofpowers, workers are the sovereign, equality before the law, protections ofminority and individual rights in law, due process, right of petition, etc.
The Federal shall protect the Units against assault (legal, physical, and ??) and on Application of the Unit Legislature, or of the Unit Leader (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Obligation of the Units
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each Unit to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other Unit. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
The workers of each Unit shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of workers in the several Units (i.e., one Unit may not discriminate against workers in other Units in favor of its own workers). No Unit shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of workers of the Workerle; nor shall any Unit deprive any worker of property, without due process of law; nor deny to any worker within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Note: ”Property” includes not only materialpossessions, but other possessions such as position and salary.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
Amendment Process
Note: The Business is comprised of two legal entities, the owner legal entity (ownerle for short) and the worker legal entity (workerle for short). The workerle would typically be a limited liability company. There is a lease that describes the legal arrangement between these two entities.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution and the Ownerle-Workerle Lease, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several Units, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution or the Ownerle-Workerle Lease, as the case may be, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several Units, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress and by the Owner’s Board of Directors.
Oath of Office
The Senators before mentioned, and the Members of the several Unit Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the Federal Level and of the several Units, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution (Workerle Operating Agreement)
Supremacy, Limited Powers, and Interposition
Constitution is Supreme
This Constitution (Workerle Operating Agreement) shall be the supreme Law of the Business; and the Judges in every Unit shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Laws of any Unit to the Contrary notwithstanding.
Limited Powers
The enumeration in this Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the workers.
The powers not delegated to the Federal by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the Units, are reserved to the Units respectively, or to the workers.
Interposition by Units
When the Legislature of any Unit shall resolve that any Federal Law or Agreement infringes on the rights of that Unit, it may interpose and not abide that Law or Agreement. It shall then so inform the President, the Chairman of the Board, the President of the Senate, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. It may, if it chooses, also inform the other Units of the Workerle. Any party may sue in Federal Court to enjoin this Unit to abide by the Law or Agreement which is the subject of the Unit’s interposition. If the Courts enjoin the Unit, the Unit shall abide that Law or Agreement. Notwithstanding such a Court injunction, if three-fourths of the Unit Legislatures concur with the interposition, the subject Law or Agreement is thereby nullified, void, and of no effect.
Note: It is the nature of government bodies to expand their powers. The US Congress is a good example of this. Interposition is not present in the US Constitution. The States have to contest through the courts any Federal actions they deem to violate their rights. This is rather a long and costly process. This interposition process is a check on the the expansion of Congressional powers. The Units are to be free to govern themselves internally. This will help them stay free of external meddling.
Worker Rights
Neither Congress nor the Units shall make a law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the workers peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Business Government for a redress of grievances.
The right of the workers to be secure in their persons, work space, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the things to be seized.
No worker shall be held to answer for separation from the workerle, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, nor shall any worker be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy; nor shall be compelled in any such case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of membership in the Workerle, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
In all prosecutions for, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the Unit wherein the crime shall have been committed, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
In Suits at common law, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the Workerle, than according to the rules of the common law. Where a worker is a party in a suit, only damages for errors and omissions shall be awarded and shall not exceed the actual amount of the error and/or omission.
Note: In the US, the Federal and State governments have sovereign immunity against suits brought by citizens. The main purpose of this is so that citizens cannot drain the coffers of governments through suits. However, it also prevents the citizens from using the court system to force the government to obey its laws. In the Workerle, sovereign immunity is not necessary. However, workers cannot sue the workerle for anything more than a correction. For example, if a worker was shorted in his paycheck and the payroll department won’t help, he can file suit to have this corrected. If a worker wants to sue the Business for damages other than to correct for errors and omissions, he will have to file suit outside the workerle in state court.
The right of workers in the Workerle to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the Federal or by any Unit.
Note: In the Workerle, every worker has voting rights and they are equal to the rights of every other worker. In the Ownerle, voting rights will likely be different. For owners, it is often based on ownership percentage such as one voter per share.