‘It’s common sense’: Sacramento could require businesses to rehire laid-off employees
Thousands of Sacramento workers were laid off during the coronavirus pandemic. As the county loosens restrictions and businesses reopen, should the workers be entitled to their old jobs?
That’s the question facing the Sacramento City Council’s law and legislation committee Tuesday afternoon. A proposed ordinance would mandate all Sacramento employers with 50 or more workers to hire laid-off former employees back over new applicants when filling positions.
Businesses would be required to offer new positions to their laid-off former employees, who would have the right to decline. If more than one laid-off employee qualifies for a vacant position, the ordinance would also require business owners to hire the longer-tenured one.
First proposed in September, the ordinance was initially tabled due to a similar bill moving through the state legislature at the time. But Gov. Gavin Newsom ultimately vetoed AB 3216, and city councilwoman Katie Valenzuela pushed last month for the law and legislation committee to address the local ordinance — now sponsored by union group Unite Here — once again.
“We have an industry of folks who have been really hard-hit,” Valenzuela said. “I don’t blame folks for laying them off, there often was not much of a choice. But now that we’re recovering, we want to make sure there’s intentionality and those workers aren’t left behind.”
Though the ordinance applies to all industries, hospitality and entertainment are two of the few heavily impacted by social distancing closures where companies might employ 50 or more people. Hotel traffic cratered as leaders urged people to stay home, for example, and concert halls have remained dark for more than a year now. Gym chains like California Family Fitness would also be impacted by the proposed law.
Yet as indoor dining expands, social media is awash with restaurants seeking more hands. Virtually every employer started reopening by contacting their recent employees, Paragary Restaurant Group co-founder Randy Paragary said. Some have come back, but many have stayed away due to a combination of high unemployment benefits, COVID-19 fears and career changes, he said.
“There’s not a restaurant around that’s not offering their former employees their jobs back,” said Paragary, who laid off 200-250 employees at the start of the pandemic. “We want everybody that was laid off to come back. There’s not a single person we wouldn’t rehire that was working for us.”
Centro Cocina Mexicana can’t open for lunch because Paragary Restaurant Group can only find enough employees to staff dinner service, Paragary said. Other restaurants like Camden Spit & Larder are looking for help despite worker-friendly features like tipping out their line cooks. In a worker shortage, it’s common sense to hire back old employees, Paragary said.
“Why are they spending time on something like this that’s common sense? It’s kind of one those feel-good things for the (councilmembers) — ‘Hey, let’s come up with something that looks good on paper’ — because it’s common sense and is going to happen anyway,” Paragary said.
Valenzuela agrees, actually — about the rehiring of old employees being common sense given their institutional know-how. Yet she and union groups worry businesses will hire younger, cheaper employees if given the option, rather than pay the higher salaries and benefits packages seasoned workers would demand.
As for workers being content with EDD payouts, the maximum for which dropped from $750 per week to $450 per week in mid-March, Valenzuela said that theory ignores non-citizens, many of whom were reluctant to collect unemployment due to a Trump administration policy that made green cards and citizenship harder to attain for people who received public assistance.
“You have folks who, since they have been laid off from their jobs, haven’t pursued resources for relief because they are not full citizens,” Valenzuela said. “All they want to do is go back to work. They’re not asking for any special treatment, they’re just asking for what’s fair.”
Paul Schwab could go back to the Natomas bar that laid him off last month under the new ordinance, but doesn’t want to after seeing his old employer’s social distancing approach. The American River College adjunct professor instead advises students on how to get hired as they work toward baking/pastry certificates, culinary arts certificates or associate in arts degrees in hospitality management.
The council’s proposed ordinance seems fair, Schwab said, though returning employees will probably come back to fewer shifts given that Sacramento County restaurants can still only seat 25% of their full occupancy inside. The low wage-earning potential and risk of contracting COVID-19 from customers or coworkers may keep former hospitality employees away until more shifts become available, Schwab said.
“I would understand if a big part of the workforce moved on to other endeavors specifically because they didn’t feel safe working in restaurants,” Schwab wrote in a Facebook message. “You can’t compete with other industries who now have $15 as the floor and offer things like sick days (I know it’s legally required, but I’m speaking honestly), remote work, and consistent hours.”
Laid-off employees would need to be notified via mail, text and email of all new vacancies under the proposed ordinance, and would have five days to respond. The law and legislation meeting will begin at 1 p.m. Tuesday, and the ordinance will likely go before the city council within a month.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 6:19 AM.