NS ORD-1997-013 Living Wage Ordinance

Browse Search

6 6 3. At what financial level should a contract be covered? Some communities considering living wage ordinances have proposed considering only those contracts above a certain level such as $25,000 or$50,000. Orange County executes hundreds of small contracts annually. Appendix 3 is a list of current Orange County contracts above$5,000. 4. Should any local ordinance apply to companies receiving local subsidies? Although Orange County may not supply tax abatements, it has participated in two water and sewer expansions for specific companies over the past 10 years. Orange County's current policy requires that the company's average wage be above the local average wage, but does not set minimums. Appendix 4, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Living Wage Policy, is an example of an ordinance that addresses requirements for companies receiving local subsidies. 5. Which contract employees should be affected? If a large company has only a few employees working on an Orange County contract, should all of that company's employees be subject to the Orange County's local minimum? 6. Should the residence of employees affected be considered? It is likely that many of the employees affected will not be residents of Orange County. 7. Should any local ordinance apply to Orange CogM's permanent and temporary employees? If the Board of County Commissioners were to adopt an ordinance, its impact on Orange County employees would depend on the level at which the living wage was established. Charts 2, 3, and 4 show preliminary estimates of the number of employees affected at specific wage levels. Some of the temporary employees are high school students employed as library pages, work-study students, and athletic assistants. Others are mostly clerical staff and maintenance workers. For many temporary employees, the hours worked are very limited.