There is another attack on the local San Antonio business community. A coalition of grassroots organizations across Texas called Working Texans for Paid Sick Time launched a petition drive for a paid sick time referendum. This is yet again another attempt to tell businesses how to run their operations. If you recall, the Chamber - along with many of you directly and with the help of other business groups - fought mightily to reverse the airport concession RFP that contained a labor peace agreement provision. As a result of this pressure and opposition, City Council realized the business community must have a seat at the table when developing and evaluating policy and rescinded the LPA provision in the RFP.
Last Thursday, Working Texans for Paid Sick Time, led by the Texas Organizing Project, submitted a petition to initiate an ordnance amending Chapter 15 of the City of San Antonio Heath Code to create a new article XI, entitled “Earned Paid Sick Time”. The ordinance would require that certain employees in San Antonio be provided earned paid sick time.
The proposed ordinance would mandate small employers to provide six days (48 hours) of paid sick time per year and medium-to-large employers eight days (64 hours).
It is important to understand that such an ordinance would have detrimental effects on the business community, especially small businesses. This mandate would impose new costs on employers who will have to offer compensation packages, face lost production due to more workers taking leave, and realize new paperwork and recordkeeping costs incurred by complying with the mandate, which will negatively impact their bottom line and may ultimately force businesses to down-size, cut other benefits already offered, or close. “Running a business is hard enough already with the bevy of regulations that the local, state and federal government require them to operate under. This is another layer of bureaucracy. I think the market needs to dictate when and if a business should provide this benefit to their employees.” said Richard Perez, President and CEO.
Just this past February the Austin City Council passed a similar measure mandating paid sick. The business community was adamantly opposed to the ordinance and later filed suit along with the Texas Public Policy Foundation last month.
The Chamber is committed to informing voters about the unintended consequences of such an initiative and will be encouraging them to hit the polls and vote NO should the proposition make it on the November ballot.
Contact Stephanie Reyes, Vice President of Public Policy at 210-229-2192 or via email at sreyes@sachamber.org.
