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~,tYof Clt)/ COUIICII R@p01"t
Santa Monica°
City Council Meeting: April 26, 2011
Agenda Item: ~E
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Marsha Jones Moutrie, City Attorney
Subject: Ordinance Amending Chapter 4.65 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code to
Require Contractors Subject to the City's Living Wage Law to Provide the
Same Benefits to Workers' Domestic Partners as Are Provided to
Workers' Spouses.
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that City Council introduce for first reading the attached ordinance,
which amends the City's Living Wage Law to require that, in addition to providing a
living wage, contractors also provide the same health care and other benefits to
workers' same sex spouses and domestic partners as are provided to other workers'
spouses.
Executive Summary
Council has directed staff to prepare for Council consideration a proposed equal
benefits ordinance requiring that City contractors provide the same benefits to workers
with same sex spouses or domestic partners as are provided to other workers' spouses.
The attached, proposed ordinance fulfills that direction. The requirement is proposed as
an amendment to the City's Living Wage Law so that the equal benefits requirement
could be administered and enforced as part of the existing mechanism for ensuring
compliance with the Living Wage Law.
Background
In recent years, many cities have adopted so called "Equal Benefits Ordinances" which
basically ensure that city contractors do not discriminate against their employees based
on sexual orientation and marital status. Cities in California that have adopted such
laws include San Diego, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento. On
October 26 2010, Council directed staff to prepare such a law for Council
consideration.
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Discussion
The proposed ordinance would amend Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 4.65, the
City's Living Wage Law. It requires that contractors working on City contracts in
amounts more than $54,200 pay a minimum wage to employees working on the
contract for work done on the contract, unless the contractor is a City grantee, nonprofit
corporation or corporation providing banking services. The proposed amendment would
require that, as to such workers, the contractor provide the same benefits to same sex
spouses and domestic partners as are provided to other employees' spouses.
This. requirement would ensure that City contractors covered by the Living Wage Law
would not discriminate against employees based on sexual orientation or marital status.
Thus, for instance, an employer that offered health insurance and other benefits to
spouses would have to provide the same benefits to same sex spouses and to domestic
partners. Thus, the ordinance would assist in effectuating the principle of "equal pay for
equal work."
Alternatives
Instead of making the equal benefits requirement part of the Living Wage Law, Council
could make it applicable to City contractors in general, possibly with exceptions for sole
source .and small contractors, among others. Staff does not recommend this
alternative. The Living Wage Law reflects Council's determination of the appropriate
threshold for applying City standards to the relationship between City contractors and
their employees. Moreover, making the equal benefits requirement applicable to all
contracts would require establishing new administrative and enforcement mechanisms
which would likely be less effective than the systems already in place for the Living
Wage Law. Moreover, unlike some other cities' equal benefit laws, the City's Living
Wage Law has very limited exceptions. Thus, for those contractors over the Living
Wage threshold, the coverage of the proposed equal benefits law would be broader
than in other cities.
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Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
Because the proposed ordinance is an amendment to the Living Wage Law,
administration and enforcement would be undertaken as part of the existing system.
Therefore, financial impacts attendant upon administration and enforcement would be
minimal. However, those administrative costs could be significant, particularly at the
outset, if the equal benefits requirement were a stand alone requirement applicable to
all City contractors and not just those covered by the Living Wage Law.
Prepared by: Marsha Jones Moutrie, City Attorney
Approved:
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Mar ha Jon s Moutrie
City ttorn
ATTACHMENTS:
A. Proposed Ordinance
Forwarded to Council ,
Rod Gould
City Manager
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ATTACHMENT A
F:\atty\mu ni\laws\mjm\Eq ualBenefitsOrd042611
City Council Meeting: 4-26-11 Santa Monica, California
ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
SANTA MONICA ADDING SECTION 4.65.025 TO THE SANTA MONCA MUNIC6PAL
CODE RELATING TO EQUAL BENEFITS
WHEREAS, the City of Santa Monica is committed to the principle of equal
opportunities and equal pay for equal work; and
WHEREAS, the City has a long history of acting to combat discrimination based
on sexual orientation, or marital status; and
WHEREAS, a number of cities have exercised their authority to require equal
benefits for contractors' workers, regardless of sexual orientation or marital status; and
WHEREAS, the City Council wishes to promote fairness,. and equality by
requiring that contractors subject to the City's Living Wage Law provide the same
benefits to domestic partners and to same-sex spouses as are provided to other
spouses.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
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SECTION 1. Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 4.65.025 is hereby added to
read as follows:
4.65.025 Equal benefit requirements for City contractors
Any contractor subject to the minimum wage requirements of
this Chapter shall provide the same benefits to a same-sex spouse
or a domestic partner of an employee working on the City contract
as are provided to any spouse of an employee working on the Citv
contract.
SECTION 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage
of this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the
official newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become
effective 30 days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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A HA J JES MO TRIE
City Attorn
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