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This ordinance amends the Philadelphia code to require employers within organizations or public agencies that receive city contracts, subcontracts, leases, concessions, financial assistance, or other forms of city support to provide their employees with a higher minimum wage. The new minimum wage standard in this ordinance is an hourly wage, excluding benefits, of at least 150 percent of the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher. This ordinance also establishes a Living Wage Advisory Committee to review the implementation and effectiveness of this law.
This ordinance encourages the government to procure goods through local businesses with price preferences. Small businesses (those with 35 or fewer employees) receive a 5% price preference in the awarding of city contracts. For services provided through a request-for-proposal process, local small businesses receive a 10% point advantage. Local businesses of all sizes also receive a 2.5% preference, but the city defines a 'local' business as any business with a location in Santa Clara County.
This ordinance requires that all capital projects enacted by the county or to which the county lends or otherwise funds construction shall adhere to sustainable and green development and building practices. It establishes functional definitions of these projects and their core components as well as develops a clear and flexible justification for such policy.
This ordinance requires that nothing less than a living wage be paid to employees of the city's service contractors, of certain of its lessees and licensees, and of its financial assistance recipients. Employers should also provide at least 12 compensated days off per year and some payment towards the provision of health care benefits for employees and their dependents. The ordinance also specifies that employer retaliation is prohibited and details the enforcement methods for this law.
This ordinance requires city service contractors or recipients of city financial assistance of $50,000 or more to pay employees a wage equivalent to the federal poverty line for a family of four.
The ordinance prohibits the city from entering into contracts for government funded projects for services of $50,000 or more with a contractor, subcontractor, or vendor who is outsourcing, or causing the work to be performed outside of the United States or Canada. The ordinance requires written verification that work will be performed in the United States or Canada prior to commencement of work. The ordinance allows the Chief Administrative Officer to grant an exemption when the services are not available in the United States or Canada at a reasonable cost. The ordinance requires certain reporting requirements for exemptions granted and authorizes the Board of Finance to override an exemption. The ordinance also establishes civil penalties ranging from $100 to $500 per day for each violation and allows the City to modify, terminate, or seek specific performance on contracts if the contractor, subcontractor, or vendor does not complied with the ordinance provisions.
A contractor with a contract for services with the city valued at $100,000 or more, including subcontractors, is required to pay a wage that is at least the living wage for the duration of the contract to employees of the contractor for hours worked on the city contract. The living wage shall be a wage level equivalent to at least one hundred thirty (130) percent of the federal poverty level for a family of four (4) or, for employers that provide employees basic health insurance benefits, equivalent to at least one hundred ten (110) percent of the federal poverty level for a family of four (4). A recipient of a city business subsidy must enter into a city business subsidy agreement with the city that includes a description of the subsidy, goals for the number of jobs created and/or retained, and wage goals for any jobs created and/or retained. In the agreement, the city's department of planning and economic development must negotiate the minimum number of required living wage jobs to be created by the business subsidy recipient. It is a city goal that one (1) living wage job be created out of every twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000.00) of city business subsidy. If the number of required jobs for a subsidy recipient is less than the city's goal, the department of planning and economic development must supply written reasons for not meeting the city's goal to the city council. A contractor or subsidy recipient that fails to meet the living wage requirement at any time during the duration of the contract shall not eligible for a city contract or subsidy in the next contract cycle or the next calendar year and shall be liable to the city for liquidated damages at twenty (20) percent of the value of the contract or four (4) times the value of the subsidy proportional to the rate at which the recipient failed to create living wage jobs.
This act requires businesses providing goods or services to the city to follow hiring guidelines that limit questions regarding criminal history, except for certain positions.
This ordinance would require all corporations requesting municipal action or receiving a municipal contract or financial assistance to file a corporate income tax disclosure statement with the municipal department responsible for business permits and licenses. This tax disclosure statement would include identifying information, employment data, and tax information - from total gross income to taxes paid - with information on certain tax expenditures and other relevant tax provisions. Corporations would be able to submit a supplemental statement explaining information in the disclosure, and the public would be provided access to the corporate tax disclosure statements. The municipal agencies responsible for business licensing and tax collection would be authorized to audit corporations and enforce penalties for noncompliance. Policy options in this model ordinance include language to expand the number of corporations required to file a disclosure statement (to cover all publicly traded corporations with municipal business licenses and/or large private firms), require disclosure of corporate violations, delay public disclosure to address corporate privacy concerns, and allow private persons to bring civil action against noncompliant corporations.
The ordinance requires companies or non-profits with service contracts with the city worth at least $25,000 or benefiting from at least $100,000 in city subsidies to pay workers a minimum of $9.25 an hour; entitles workers to 12 paid days off per year; and allows collective bargaining agreements to supersede the requirements of the living wage ordinance.