DISCUSSION
DRAFT
LIVING WAGE ORDINANCE
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
UKIAH ADDING CHAPTER _____ TO THE UKIAH
MUNICIPAL CODE CREATING MINIMUM WAGE REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO BUSINESSES
WITH GROSS RECEIPTS OVER
$5,000,000 AND TO THE CITY AND ITS SERVICE CONTRACTORS
WHEREAS, the public welfare requires wages and benefits sufficient to ensure
a decent and healthy life for workers and their families; and
WHEREAS, many Ukiah employers pay wages so low as to imperil
the public welfare; and
WHEREAS, many Ukiah workers receive no health care benefits
and therefore cannot protect their own health and the health of their families;
and
WHEREAS, many Ukiah workers cannot participate in civic life
or pursue educational, cultural and recreational opportunities because they
must work
such long hours to meet their households’ most basic needs; and
WHEREAS, workers who do not receive adequate wages must rely upon federal,
state and local public assistance and social services funded by taxpayers
and may never escape poverty; and
WHEREAS, workers who do not receive health care benefits may be unable to
maintain their own health or the health of their children, may be forced
to utilize publicly- funded health and emergency care services, and may unintentionally
imperil the health of others; and
WHEREAS, workers who do not have sufficient income and time off work to
participate in the civic affairs and to pursue educational, cultural and
recreational opportunities may become alienated from their communities, their
states and their nation; and
WHEREAS, minimum wage laws promote the general welfare by ensuring that
workers can support and care for their families through their own efforts
and without governmental intervention; and
WHEREAS, creating decent job opportunities through minimum wage and benefit
laws is a better way to protect individuals and families than public assistance
because the availability of decent job opportunities fosters independence,
self reliance and family unity; and
WHEREAS, laws mandating or encouraging the provision of health care benefits
to workers promote the general welfare by minimizing health risks to the
general population and reducing the cost of emergency and other health care
to the taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, minimum wage and benefit laws also assure workers the means and
leisure to participate in civic life and pursue educational and cultural
opportunities and thereby strengthen the fabric of our society; and
WHEREAS, minimum wage and benefit laws also benefit employers and the economy
as a whole by improving employee performance, reducing employee turnover,
lowering absenteeism, and thereby improving productivity and the quality
of the services provided by employees; and
WHEREAS, in recognition of these realities, the federal government mandates
the payment of a minimum wage; and
WHEREAS, in recognition of the fact that the cost of living and other circumstances
vary substantially through the United States, federal law explicitly authorizes
states and municipalities to set more stringent wage standards than those
established federally; and
WHEREAS, the State of California has exercised its power to set a minimum
wage higher than the minimum set by federal law in part because the cost
of living in California is higher than in most states; and
WHEREAS, the California Legislature has recognized that localities may need
to set more stringent wage standards than those set by state law and has
therefore specifically authorized the adoption of such standards in Labor
Code Section 1205; and
WHEREAS, in Opinion Number 89-502, the California Attorney General has recognized
the power of local governments to set wage requirements higher than those
set by state law; and
WHEREAS, the federal minimum wage has declined steadily in real dollars
for two decades; and
WHEREAS, the California minimum wage has also declined in real dollars;
and
WHEREAS, the California minimum wage is inadequate to meet the needs of
workers in the Mendocino County region where the cost of living
is higher than in many parts of the state; and
WHEREAS, housing costs in the region are high relative to most
parts of California, and low-income workers must therefore spend a disproportionate
percentage of their income sheltering themselves and their families; and
WHEREAS, disproportionately high housing costs force workers to locate far
from their jobs and spend long hours traveling to and from work; and
WHEREAS, the taxpayers of the Mendocino County region must pay
the cost of meeting workers’ needs through the provision of social services
because
the
state
minimum wage is not adequate to meet those needs; and
WHEREAS, a minimum wage standard which condemns a full-time worker’s family
to abject poverty is simply inadequate to achieve the long-recognized and
salutary goals of the minimum wage laws; and
WHEREAS, the inadequacy of the state minimum wage is particularly detrimental
to the public welfare in Ukiah where the cost of living is
high and where hundreds of workers labor long hours at very low-paying
jobs; and
WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to adopt a local requirement to effectuate
the purposes of the federal and state minimum wage law, to address the needs
of workers, and to promote the public welfare; and
WHEREAS, increasing the wages of low-wage workers will help low-wage workers
live closer to work, reducing commute distances,
and
WHEREAS, the City Council also wishes to protect local businesses and their
employees by ensuring that no business suffers economic hardship so severe
as to render it nonviable as a result of this ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the Council wishes to take all possible action to address the problems
caused by inadequate wages and benefits, and Council therefore intends that
the severance doctrine shall be liberally applied to effectuate the policy
served by this law,
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UKIAH DOES HEREBY
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter _____ is hereby added to the Santa Monica Municipal
Code to read as follows:
CHAPTER _____
LIVING WAGE
Section ________. Definitions.
Employee. Any person who does not actually work as a manager, supervisor,
or confidential employee, and who is not required to possess an occupational
license.
Gross Receipts Threshold. Gross receipts over $5 million per year which
amount shall be adjusted annually each July 1st, beginning in 2003 by an
amount corresponding to the previous year’s change in the Consumer Price
Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers in Mendocino
County.
Health Benefit. A payment towards the provision of health care benefits
for Employees and their dependents in the amount of $1.75 per hour in the
first year that this Chapter is in effect, $2.50 per hour in the second year
that this Chapter is in effect, and thereafter adjusted annually each July
1st, beginning in 2008, by an amount corresponding to the previous year’s
change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers
in Mendocino County.
Minimum Wage. A wage payment at an initial hourly rate of $10.00 per hour
with Health Benefits or $11.75 per hour without Health Benefits. These rates
shall be adjusted annually each July 1st, beginning in 2008, by an amount
corresponding to the previous year’s change in the Consumer Price Index for
Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers in Mendocino County.
Section ________. Minimum Wage Payment Requirements.
The Minimum Wage required by this Chapter shall be paid by:
(a) the City of Ukiah to all workers employed by the City;
(b) any contractor or subcontractor working for the City of Ukiah
on a service contract to workers performing the work on that contract;
(c) any private person or private corporation doing business at a location
in Ukiah with gross receipts over
the Gross Receipts Threshold at that location for the previous two years
to Employees
working at that location. The gross receipts of a contractor, subcontractor,
lessee or sublessee received at that location for performing part of the
business activities of the private person or corporation shall be included
in determining whether the Gross Receipts Threshold is exceeded; and
(d) any contractor, subcontractor, lessee or sublessee performing part of
the business activities of a private person or private corporation described
in subsection (c) to Employees doing that work during at least half of their
work time.
Section ________. Exemption for Severe Economic Hardship.
An employer who contends that compliance with this Chapter would constitute
a severe economic hardship may apply to the City Manager for a waiver applicable
to all or part of the employer’s work force. Criteria for determining hardship
shall include whether: (a) compliance with the requirements of this Chapter
would render the employer’s business nonviable; (b) the employer’s business
depends for its viability upon young people and other first-time workers
who are employed on a seasonal basis; and (c) whether granting a waiver would
otherwise advance the policies underlying this Chapter. The City Manager
shall promulgate an Administrative Instruction establishing specific criteria
applicable to and procedures for processing hardship applications. Said Administrative
Instruction shall set forth information to be included on the hardship application,
procedures for filing and processing applications, and procedures for administrative
review by a City hearing examiner whose final decision shall be subject to
judicial review.
Section ________. Prohibitions Against Retaliation and Circumvention.
It shall be unlawful for any employer or employer’s agent or representative
to take any action against an individual in retaliation for the exercise
of rights under this Chapter. This Section shall also apply to any individual
working in or for the City who mistakenly, but in good faith, alleges noncompliance
with this Chapter.
Taking adverse action against an individual within sixty (60) days of the
individual’s assertion of rights shall raise a rebuttable presumption of
having done so in retaliation for the assertion of rights.
Additionally, it shall be unlawful for any employer to intentionally circumvent
the requirements of this Chapter by contracting portions of its operation
or leasing portions of its property.
Section ________. Remedies.
(a) Criminal Penalty. Any person who is convicted of violating this Chapter
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by
a fine of not greater than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment in the
county jail for not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.
(b) Civil Action. Any person, including the City, may enforce the provisions
of this Chapter by means of a civil action for injunctive and monetary relief.
The burden of proof in such cases shall be preponderance of the evidence.
Any person who violates or aids or incites another person to violate the
provisions of this Chapter is liable for each and every such offense for
the actual damages suffered by any aggrieved party or for statutory damages
in the sum of five hundred dollars, whichever is greater, and shall be liable
for such attorney's fees and costs as may be determined by the court in addition
thereto. The court may also award punitive damages to any plaintiff, including
the City. The burden
of proof for purposes of punitive damages shall be clear and convincing evidence.
(c) Administrative Complaint. Any Employee claiming violation of this Chapter
may file an administrative complaint with the City Manager or his or her
designee who shall investigate the complaint and render a determination on
it. If the City Manager or Manager’s designee concludes that a violation
has occurred, he or she may issue orders to the employer appropriate to effectuate
the complaining Employees’ rights, including, but not limited to, back pay
and reinstatement. If the employer refuses to comply with such orders, the
City Manager may revoke the employer’s business license. The City Manager’s
determination shall be appealable to a hearing officer who shall conduct
an evidentiary hearing and issue a written decision thereon. The hearing
officer’s decision shall be reviewable in court.
(d) Nonexclusive Remedies and Penalties. The remedies provided in this Section
are not exclusive, and nothing in this Chapter shall preclude any person
from seeking any other remedies, penalties or relief provided by law.
Section ________. Supercession by Collective Bargaining Agreement.
All of the provisions of this Chapter, or any part thereof, may be waived
in a bona fide collective bargaining agreement, but only if the waiver is
explicitly set forth in such agreement in clear and unambiguous terms. Unilateral
implementation of terms and conditions of employment by either party to a
collective bargaining relationship shall not constitute, or be permitted
as, a waiver of all or any part of the provisions of this Chapter.
Section ________. Effective Date and Implementation.
Employers’ obligations under Section ________ shall be effective as of July
1, 2005.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Ukiah Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent
of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to
that extent necessary to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision
of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the
validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby
declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each and every section,
subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional
without regard to whether any portion of the ordinance would be subsequently
declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once
in the official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. Except as provided
in Section ________, this Ordinance shall become effective 30 days
from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
____________________________
City Attorney
