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Committee amends and forwards emergency $5/hour hazard-pay ordinance to Board
Summary
The committee unanimously amended and referred an emergency ordinance that would require certain grocery stores, retail pharmacies and property-service contractors to provide $5/hour hazard pay during the COVID-19 emergency for workers earning under $35/hour (or $75,000/year), with exemptions for covered collective-bargaining arrangements; the measure was referred to the Board as a Committee of the Whole for March 9.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee on March 4 amended and forwarded to the Board of Supervisors an emergency ordinance that would temporarily require $5 per hour in hazard pay for certain grocery, specialty grocery and retail pharmacy employees during the COVID-19 public-health emergency.
Natalie Gee, chief of staff to Board President Shimon Walton, presented the ordinance and a series of clarifying amendments. Gee said the ordinance would require covered employers to provide $5 per hour to employees who earn under $35 per hour or under $75,000 per year, and that it applies to retail locations with at least 20 on-site employees in San Francisco and employers with 500 or more employees worldwide. Gee said the ordinance would exempt employers that have a collective-bargaining agreement that expressly addresses employer-initiated hazard pay or that negotiate an exemption through a side letter.
Deputy City Attorney Lisa Powell explained the offset: employer-initiated hazard pay that is currently in effect would be counted against the $5 requirement (so an existing $3/hour employer hazard pay would reduce the city requirement to $2/hour for that worker), and the ordinance contains a hard cap tied to a $35/hour threshold beyond which employees would not receive the additional $5. Powell also explained that waivers apply only when the collective-bargaining agreement explicitly and voluntarily waives the ordinance’s protections.
Public comment included Mike Stone, owner of Molly Stone's Markets, who said his company has provided extra pay and has about 675 employees across nine stores (three in San Francisco) and urged the committee to consider local independent operators near the eligibility thresholds. Dan Larson, representing USCW Local 6 48, urged support for the ordinance, saying essential grocery and pharmacy workers have been on the front lines throughout the pandemic.
After discussion about employee thresholds and the duration of the emergency measure, the committee approved the amendments by roll call (Chan, Mandelmann, Preston) and then approved a motion to refer the amended emergency ordinance to the Board for a Committee of the Whole hearing on March 9, 2021, pending approval to sit as a Committee of the Whole.
The ordinance as presented places definitional and scope limits—employee-pay threshold, firm-size thresholds, and collective-bargaining exemptions—into the draft text; the committee did not vote on final adoption but moved the item forward for Board consideration.
