Crain's New York - March 18, 2013 - (Page 10)

OPINION Meet the sick-days police Y ou may have heard something in the news last week about a modest initiative from the New York City Department of Health that called for limiting sales of sugary drinks to 16-ounce portions. Well, guess which city agency would be responsible for enforcing the City Council’s proposed paid-sick-days law? That’s right: the DOH, which under the latest rewrite of the sick-days legislation is given incredible policing powers over any city business with five or more employees. Family shop or Fortune 500 HQ, it matters not: The bureaucrats who brought you the beverage ban would have the power to subpoena and examine your employment records. Has anyone outside a union hall actually read this law? Better take a big gulp. DOH investigators can show up at your store or office demanding a compliance audit with no more evidence than a claim of wrongdoing by a kvetcher whose identity you may never learn. Woe to the business that does not have three years’ worth of paperwork documenting the hours worked and sick time accrued and taken by each employee—full-time, part-time or even seasonal. Under this law, failure to maintain proper records is presumed to be evidence of a violation. First violation: $1,000. A second violation within the next five years: at least $2,000. Been incorporated as a business here for all of 12 months? Congratulations. You must now comply. Multilingual written notice must be given to all employees and similarly worded posters displayed. Personnel manuals and CRAIN’S ONLINE POLL orientation materials must reflect the many provisions of the new law, which include rules governing the swapping of shifts to cover for last-minute employee absences and the accumulation of unused paid sick days into future years. Interestingly, the sick employee must provide little beyond his or her word. An employer may not demand a physician’s note until the third day out. Even then, the note need not specify the nature of an employee’s or family member’s claimed illness or condition. Naturally, the employer cannot withhold pay or deny the sick days if the worker fails to produce even such minimal documentation. A fired employee who persuades a DOH-approved tribunal that he or she was wronged by the employer who dared dismiss a ne’er-do-well for abusing the newly prescribed right to call in sick five times a year without a moment’s warning, well, he or she can be awarded at least $5,000 and other relief—“including reinstatement and promotion.” All this in the name of DOH “protecting and improving public health.” No council member or candidate for high office in this city who claims to care about businesses and the jobs they create can want passage of this bill as written. Gulp: The city’s Department of Health would audit businesses COMMENTS Sprechen Sie irony? newscom NEIN! DID THE CARDINALS CHOOSE THE RIGHT MAN? Ⅲ Yes. The church picked a Latin American leader who understands the world’s poor. Ⅲ Yes. With few ties to Vatican bureaucracy, he will shake things up. Ⅲ No. At 76, he’s too old. The last pope retired, saying he was no longer physically up to the job. Ⅲ No. He’s too conservative. The church needs new ideas. Date of poll: March 14 Total votes: 119 —v.s. JA! Enjoyed the tourist piece. However, your otherwise perfect German was marred by the use of das instead of die on “Yankees.” 18% Yes —john kominicki 8% No 40% Yes As a regular reader of your publication, I was disappointed by your Editor’s Note in the March 11 issue (“Tourist flap”). Your comments are obnoxious and a disservice to the tourism industry the city relies on so heavily. A little more consideration and less arrogance would be well appreciated. 34% No FOR THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS: Go to www.crainsnewyork.com/poll to have your say. 10 | Crain’s New York Business | March 18, 2013 President and publisher Long Island Business News THE LINGERING IMPACT OF SANDY JOB LOSSES Your article “Sandy job losses were a blip for some” (Crains NewYork.com) leaves the mistaken impression that those who lost their jobs in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy’s devastation were among the very same New Yorkers who found employment the next month. Net city gains in employment do not serve as proof that a particularly struggling group of New Yorkers are in a better position today than they were in the immediate aftermath of Sandy. In fact, according to the State Department of Labor, despite the addition of 19,000 new jobs, New York City’s unemployment rate actually rose between December 2012 and January 2013. Without an in-depth analysis of the status of Sandy victims, we will never know exactly how many are benefiting from the economic rebound and how many are still struggling to return to their pre-Sandy lives. My organization, the Food Bank for New York City, was among the first responders on the ground after Sandy, distributing nearly 1 million meals to all five boroughs within the first week of the storm. We know that the devastating impact of the hurricane exacerbated an existing hunger crisis in already poor communities and intensified the need for food and other services. According to the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, 55% of the 150,000 households who registered for FEMA assistance were living on extremely low wages. Instead of painting a picture of a dramatic recovery, the numbers suggest that there is still a lot of work to be done. —margare tte purvis President and CEO Food Bank for New York City CRAIN’S WELCOMES SUBMISSIONS to its opinion pages. 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All rights reserved. ®CityBusiness is a registered trademark of MCP Inc., used under license agreement. CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS INC. BOARD OF DIRECTORS chairman Keith E. Crain president Rance Crain treasurer Mary Kay Crain Cindi Crain executive vp, operations William Morrow senior vp, group publisher Gloria Scoby vp/production, manufacturing David Kamis chief information officer Paul Dalpiaz founder G.D. Crain Jr. (1885-1973) chairman Mrs. G.D. Crain Jr. (1911-1996) secretary Merrilee Crain (1942-2012) http://www.CrainsNewYork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/subscribe http://www.crainsnewyork.com/advertise http://www.crainsnewyork.com/events http://www.CrainsNewYork.com http://www.crainsnewyork.com/poll

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's New York - March 18, 2013

IN THE BOROUGHS
IN THE MARKETS
THE INSIDER
BUSINESS PEOPLE
OPINION
STEVE HINDY
GREG DAVID
REPORT: REAL ESTATE
real estate deals
THE LIST
FOR THE RECORD
CLASSIFIEDS
SMALL BUSINESS
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
SOURCE LUNCH
OUT AND ABOUT
SNAPS

Crain's New York - March 18, 2013

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