Crains New York - November 26, 2012 - (Page 11)

T Something sickening about this city perk he battle over whether private employers should be required to provide paid sick days to their employees has been suspended for the moment.Hurricane Sandy’s devastating effect on many small businesses has made that fight moot as they struggle for survival. Perhaps the city’s elected officials should look at their own house during this interim, specifically the provisions for paid leave that city government has for its own employees. In this as in other benefit areas, including pensions and retiree health insurance, city employees are more privileged than most private-sector workers. Employers in the private sector have been converting to paid time off from separate provisions for annual, personal and sick leaves. Under PTO, employees accrue time they can use for any purpose,whether personal illness, care for an ailing family member or vacation. Employers who have adopted PTO find that it’s easier to administer and reduces absenteeism due to sick-leave abuse. Crain Communications switched to PTO years ago. Entitlements range from 15 days in an employee’s first full year to 30 days for those with 15 or more years of service.Leave bal- ALAIR TOWNSEND ances cannot be accrued from year to year, but any current-year unused amounts are paid out in a lump sum when an employee leaves. Now consider city employees. Managers are entitled to 20 days of annual leave for the first seven years of their employment, and up to 27 days for those with 15 or more years of service. Employees can accrue some annual leave from year to year, with any remainder above the limit converted to sick leave. These employees also have 12 days of sick leave a year, with unlimited accrual from year to year.The total potential leave is nearly eight weeks a year for long-term employees—generous by any standard. Some argue that this generosity stems from the fact that city managers aren’t well paid, and that buckets of time off help compensate. Yet this is based on compensation levels of the past.City government pay levels have risen to be competitive with privatesector levels, but fringe benefits haven’t been adjusted much and remain comparatively lavish. Indeed, here’s the kicker. Upon separation from city employment, employees get paid for unused leave. Long-term employees can get paid for up to one year’s worth of unused annual and sick leave. Paying for any unused sick leave is remarkable; paying for so much total leave is absurd. In recent years, city negotiators have won minor concessions in paidleave provisions. But still, city employees enjoy perks unknown to most workers in the private sector. There are significant savings in dollars and productivity to be had by moving to paid time off, not to mention fairness to those footing the bill. Mayor’s race rests on 3 key questions ith the Democratic mayoral candidates about to gather for a group grilling at the Crain’s Future of New York conference on Nov. 28, it’s a good time to handicap the 2013 election. Everything now depends on answering three questions. 1. Is John Liu viable? The city comptroller has insisted he will be a candidate for mayor even as top associates have been charged in a fundraising scandal.The associates have proclaimed they are innocent and have remained loyal to the comptroller, and their lawyers have mounted an effort to discredit the prosecutor’s actions in the case. If Mr. Liu is forced out, then support from unions and the Working Families Party will fall to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. If Mr. Liu is viable, then he and Mr. de Blasio will be fighting over the left wing of the party and could divide it.That would be good news for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who is already the beneficiary of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s decision to run for comptroller. 2. Will Bill Thompson be a contender? The former comptroller and defeated 2009 mayoral candidate has W will have to demonstrate that he is capable of winning, which means raising lot of money by the next reporting date in January. So far, Mr. Thompson has not been able to build a campaign war chest. If Mr.Thompson falters and Mr. Liu is out, the Democratic primary will be a showdown between Mr. de Blasio and Ms. Quinn. It will be the liberal versus moderate elements of the party (or what passes for moderate in New York City) and will pit an anti-Bloomberg candidate against a pro-Bloomberg candidate. GREG DAVID ignored Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s suggestion earlier this year that he get on with his life since he has no chance to win. His strategy for 2013 is based on being the only minority candidate (if Mr. Liu drops out) or the only African-American candidate. If demographics are destiny, then he will be a serious threat to the other Democrats. If ethnic voting is less important than it used to be, Mr. Thompson 3. Will any Republican be credible? Now there are four—as in four men running for the Republican nomination for mayor. Newspaper publisher Tom Allon has been campaigning for some time without raising much money or finding traction on issues.Doe Fund founder George McDonald plans to shake things up by challenging the city limits on contributions, but he must both back up his talk with money and show competence on the issues. Aldolfo Carrión was a pro-development Bronx borough president but disappeared into the Obama administration and hasn’t yet outlined either a strategy or a platform. The emergence of these three shows that even the Republican Party pros don’t take seriously the fourth candidate, grocer John Catsimatidis. To be taken seriously, these candidates will have to raise money, campaign full time by speaking to every possible group, and prove they have a strategy for the city. We are waiting. November 26, 2012 | Crain’s New York Business | 11 http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events-bestplaces2012 http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events-bestplaces2012 http://www.crainsnewyork.com/40Under40 http://www.crainsnewyork.com/40Under40

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York - November 26, 2012

Crains New York - November 26, 2012
IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
ALAIR TOWNSEND
GREG DAVID
SMALL BUSINESS
REPORT: REAL ESTATE
THE LIST
REAL ESTATE DEALS
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR THE RECORD
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crains New York - November 26, 2012