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Home My WebLink AboutResolution No. 2015-57, Draft 1COUNTY COUNCIL COUNTY OF KAUAI r i� � t 0 11 No. 2015 -57, Draft 1 RESOLUTION SUPPORTING ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR HAWAPI'S WORKING FAMILIES: LIVING WAGE, PAID SICK LEAVE, PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE, AND RIGHT TO ORGANIZE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII: WHEREAS, the minimum wage in Hawaii is currently $7.75 per hour, and scheduled to increase to $8.50 per hour beginning January 1, 2016, $9.25 per hour beginning January 1, 2017, and $10.10 per hour beginning January 1, 2018 (Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) 387 -2); and WHEREAS, prior to January 1, 2015, Hawai`i's working families had not been granted a minimum wage increase since 2007; and WHEREAS, on May 14, 2015, the Los Angeles City Council passed a bill to raise the City's minimum wage from $9.00 per hour to $15.00 per hour by 2020. Other cities that have enacted a $15.00 minimum wage include Seattle, Washington, and the cities of San Francisco and Emeryville in California; and WHEREAS, according to the White House and the Council of Economic Advisers, raising wages can increase productivity, reduce turnover and save on recruiting /training costs, and reduce absenteeism; and WHEREAS, regarding sick leave in Hawaii, the State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations confirms that sick leave is not required by law. Furthermore, there are no federal legal requirements for paid sick leave; and WHEREAS, on June 22, 2015, Oregon became the fourth state in the nation with a statewide paid sick days law (joining Connecticut, California, and Massachusetts). Oregon's bill, which will take effect in 2016, will guarantee all workers access to job - protected sick days. Workers at businesses with ten (10) or more employees will be able to earn paid sick time, while those at smaller businesses will earn unpaid time; and WHEREAS, according to a survey conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago, more than half of all workers without paid sick days (55 %) have go to work sick, and workers without access to paid sick days are twice as likely as those with access to say they have gone to the emergency room to get care for themselves because they were unable to take time off of work to get medical care. Furthermore, nearly one quarter of workers (23 %) say they have lost a job or were told they would lose a job for taking time off to deal with a personal or family illness, including nearly one -sixth (16 %) who say they have actually lost a job; and 1of3 WHEREAS, the National Partnership for Women & Families reports that adults without paid sick days are 1.5 times more likely than adults with paid sick days to report going to work with a contagious illness like the flu or a viral infection; more than three in four of America's food service and hotel workers (78 %) do not have a single paid sick day; and parents without paid sick days are more than twice as likely to send a sick child to school or daycare as parents with paid sick days; and WHEREAS, regarding family and medical leave in Hawaii, the Hawaii Family Leave Law (HFLL), HRS Chapter 398, only applies to employers with one hundred or more employees working in the state, and even employees eligible for family leave under HFLL do not receive pay during their maximum four (4) weeks per year absence from employment, unless they choose to redeem sick, vacation, or other personal leave they may have. Covered under the HFLL is: birth of the employee's child, or the adoption of a child; or to care for an employee's child, spouse, or reciprocal beneficiary, or parent with a serious health condition. Leave for the employee's own serious health condition is not covered; and WHEREAS, the Hawaii Legislative Reference Bureau reported in 2007 regarding the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): "More than 35 million employees have taken leave under FMLA since it was enacted in 1993; however, because of employee and employer eligibility requirements, 40% of workers are not covered by the FMLA. Furthermore, those who are eligible may not be able to afford to take unpaid leave. For example, an estimated 78% of those who needed family leave but did not take it report that they did not take the leave because they could not afford to do so "; and WHEREAS, regarding the right to organize, Article XIII of the Hawaii Constitution guarantees to both private and public sector employees the right to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining. Both federal and state statutes guarantee many, but not all, workers the right to organize and bargain collectively; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE COUNTY OF KAUAI, STATE OF HAWAII, that the Council requests the State Legislature raise the current minimum wage following the year 2016, 2017, and 2018 increases already scheduled, as follows: Beginning January 1, 2020: (A) $15.00 per hour for employers whose annual gross dollar volume of sales made or business done exceeds $1,250,000; (B) $12.50 per hour for employers whose annual gross dollar volume of sales made or business done is between $500,000 and $1,250,000; and (C) $11.00 per hour for employers whose annual gross dollar volume of sales made or business done is less than $500,000. The Council further requests that the Legislature substitute an alternate effective date, alternate dollar amounts, or other details, if deemed appropriate upon further investigation. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council requests the State Legislature require employers with ten (10) or more employees to allow workers to earn one (1) hour of sick leave for every thirty (30) hours of work, up to a total of fifty -six (56) hours or seven (7) days; and for employers with less than ten (10) 2of3 employees to allow workers to earn one (1) hour of sick leave for every thirty (30) hours of work up to a total of forty (40) hours or five (5) days, to take effect July 1, 2016. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council requests the State Legislature amend HRS Chapter 398 by reducing to fifty (50) the number of employees needed to trigger an employer's applicability for family and medical leave, and by allowing leave to be used for an employee's own serious health condition. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council requests the State Legislature reaffirm its support of workers and their right to form a union without employer intimidation (also known as the right to organize) by passing a resolution calling for Congressional labor law reform that helps workers bargain for dignity on the job, fair wages, and job security; and that strengthens the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) to better cover and protect workers. BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to Mayor Bernard P. Carvalho, Jr., Governor David Y. Ige, State Senate President Ronald D. Kouchi, Speaker of the State House of Representatives Joe Souki, State Representative Derek S. K. Kawakami, State Representative Daynette "Dee" Morikawa, and State Representative James Kunane Tokioka. Introduced by: /s/ KIPUKAI KUALI`I V: \RESOLUTIONS \2014 -2016 TERM \Living Wage Sick Leave & Medical Leave Right To Organize Draft 1- KK -JA lc.docx Certificate V Moption Me berebp certifp that Rcoolution -.o. 2015-57, Mraft 1 wag abopteb by the Council of the Countp of Raua`i, btate of A)aboai`i, 1Cihu`e, Raua`i, JOaWai`i, on (October 7, 2015. 3of3 . V4�� & Pregi ing L- Cbairman fficer Zfpe -0ap (excugeb Recugeb cbotb X 3booger X Ragabia X Ranabiro R Ruali`i X 3&apo ;o X Rubimura X Total 4 3 0 0 Certificate V Moption Me berebp certifp that Rcoolution -.o. 2015-57, Mraft 1 wag abopteb by the Council of the Countp of Raua`i, btate of A)aboai`i, 1Cihu`e, Raua`i, JOaWai`i, on (October 7, 2015. 3of3 . V4�� & Pregi ing L- Cbairman fficer