Santa
Barbara for a Living Wage
Living Wage Ordinance
Summary
1) Living Wage Rate
The living wage is set at $13.40 an hour.
For employers that
do not provide health insurance, there will be a $2.00 an
hour supplemental per hour. Research: The living wage is
based on HUD numbers for a single person renting a studio
apartment
(with no benefits) in SB County.
$13.40 is also the lowest wage for a full-time City worker.
The “living
wage” needed increases depending on family structure
and number of children, however for the purposes of this ordinance
the living wage is $13.40.Adjustments: Living Wage and health
benefits will be adjusted yearly based on Consumer Price Index.
2) Who will be covered:
Employees
of service contractors who are working on the contract. The contract
must be a minimum of $10,000. There are over 200
service contractors that would be covered. Some already pay
the living
wage. Since the City does not currently request salary information,
it is difficult to estimate for sure how many employees would
be affected. However, we estimate 1,000-1,500 workers would
be directly
affected.
City
Hourly employees: City employees who
work at least 520 hours. This ordinance exempts seasonal temporary
employees
(summer camps,
lifeguards, etc.).
CFARS: Financial assistance includes any
kind of subsidy including reduced rent on city property,
grant forgiven loans, tax breaks,
etc above the $10,000 threshold.
3) Non-profits will
be included in the ordinance in the following ways:
Non-profits with a greater than 4 to 1 differential between
the highest paid and lowest paid employee will be included.
For example,
a non-profit whose lowest paid employee makes $25,000 a year
and Executive Director makes more than $100,000, would be covered
by
the living wage ordinance.
Non-profits with 4 to 1 or less wage differential will have three
years “phase in” to get employees up to a living wage.
After three years, these non-profits can apply for a “hardship
waiver”, and be exempted on an annual case-by-case basis.
A Non-profit Living Wage Committee, composed of non-profit Executive
Directors, made recommendations on ordinance language, and are
exploring other options in addition to the living wage ordinance
to get more non-profits to be able to pay a living wage, including
educating the funder community, highlighting successful non-profit
living wage models, holding educational forums, etc.
Incentive for responsible employers-The Ordinance requires a
living wage only those conductingwork for the City. However,
responsible
employers who pay a living wage to all of their employees will
get preference in the contracting process.
Strong Enforcement
Language-Language is included in the ordinance to ensure compliance,
including monetary penalties for companies
that do not pay the required living wage.
Living
Wage Advisory Committee- The
ordinance includes the establishment of a Living Wage Advisory
Committee with members
to be appointed
by the city council. The committee and include labor and business
representatives, and will evaluate the effectiveness of the
living wage law.
Members of the following organizations were involved in the
drafting of this ordinance: La Casa de La Raza, SEIU Local
620, Democratic
Central Committee, Women’s Political Committee, PUEBLO,
Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE), SB CAN,
El Congresso,
Campus Democrats, and United Food and Commercial Workers Local
1036.
