Nassau County Executive Laura Curran signed changes in the county’s Living Wage Law last Wednesday that she said would help ensure that county workers or those working for contracted vendors are paid fairly and receive all the time off and benefits to which they are contractually entitled.
The loophole would have permitted vendors and contractors doing business with the county to transfer contracts to subsidiary, sister or parent companies not party to the original agreements. Companies whose CEOs made less than six times the average amount paid other employees and whose annual budgets were $1 million or less could apply for waivers to the living wage law under the previous rules.
Such companies were required to present their books for examination as part of the waiver process. However, subsidiaries, sisters and parents were not. In theory, once a company was granted a waiver, it could transfer its contract to a related entity that did not meet the original criteria, which would then be able to benefit from the waivers.
In closing the loophole, Curran said vendors applying for waivers would be required to submit the books for all heir companies’ related entities to ensure that no such abuses could occur. “The loophole we closed today allowed [some] companies to appear smaller than they actually were to avoid paying workers a living wage” she said.
The living wage for vendors doing business with the county is $16.41 per hour, for companies that do not offer benefits; or $14.27 per hour for those that do. Vendors are required to pay the differential, either in health care or day care benefits, at the discretion of the employee.