San Francisco, CA Sweatfree Contracting

San Francisco, CA, US

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Type: Ordinance

Status: Adopted on 9/16/05

Source File: http://www.sfgov.org/site/uploadedfiles/oca/SweatfreeContractingOrdinance_Chapter12U.doc

Text:

Chapter 12U: Sweatfree Contracting

Sec. 12U.1. Findings

The Board of Supervisors finds and declares the following:

(a) This Chapter shall be known as the Sweatfree Contracting Ordinance.

(b) Each year the City and County of San Francisco spends hundreds of millions of dollars contracting with private sector contractors for the purchase or rental of goods. The prudent expenditure of public dollars requires that the City select responsible contractors.

(c) The City and County, as a major purchaser of goods, must be cognizant of the labor conditions that may be supported by its actions as a major market participant. Better working conditions assure consistently better quality goods for the City and County, by assuring fewer disruptions in the workplace due to workers' grievances, fewer absences due to illnesses, less fatigue and fewer workplace injuries, less turnover of workers, and greater incentive to perform.

(d) In its role as a market participant, the City and County seeks to assure that the integrity of the procurement process is not undermined by contractors or subcontractors who engage in sweatshop practices. Contractors who use Sweatshop Labor are able to underbid responsible contractors who pay fair wages and maintain humane work environments and conditions. Such practices place responsible contractors at a competitive disadvantage, which may dissuade responsible contractors from participating in the City and County procurement process. This Chapter will encourage responsible contracting with the City and County and reduce any inadvertent support of contractors who use Sweatshop Labor.

(e) By adopting this ordinance, the City and County does not intend to preclude the City and County or its contractors or subcontractors from doing business with any foreign country.

Sec. 12U.2. Definitions

For the purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions shall apply to the terms used herein.

(a) “Abusive Forms of Child Labor” shall mean the following: work performed by a person under the age of 18 when the person does not voluntarily seek the work or the person is threatened by the person's employer with physical, mental or emotional harm for nonperformance; (2) work performed by a person under the age of 18 in violation of any applicable law of the country of manufacture or assembly governing the minimum age of employment, compulsory education, or occupational health and safety; or (3) the use of a person under the age of 18 for illegal activities, including but not limited to the production or trafficking of illicit drugs or for prostitution.

(b) “Contract” shall mean an agreement for Goods for an amount greater than $25,000 and having a term in excess of three months to be purchased or provided at the expense of the City and County or to be paid out of moneys deposited in the treasury or out of trust moneys under the control of or collected by the City and County. “Contract” shall also mean any amendment to a contract entered into after the effective date of this Chapter that causes the amount of the contract to exceed $25,000 or causes the term to exceed three months.

(c) “Contractor” shall mean any person or persons, association, cooperative, firm, partnership, corporation, company, venture, trustee, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, or combination thereof who enters into a Contract with the City and County.

(d) “Director” shall mean the Director of the Office of Contract Administration.

(e) “Foreign Convict or Forced Labor” shall mean any form of labor used to produce or manufacture goods prohibited from importation into the United States under 19 U.S.C. § 1307, which includes Abusive Forms of Child Labor and Slave Labor.

(f) “Good” shall mean any good, including without limitation, any material, supply, or equipment.

(g) “Slave Labor” shall mean any form of slavery, sale and trafficking of persons, debt bondage, indentured servitude, serfdom, or forced or compulsory labor.

(h) “Subcontract” shall mean any subcontract agreement or arrangement directly with a Contractor for any work under a Contract (first tier subcontract) and shall mean any subcontract agreement or arrangement between subcontractors, at any tier, except for any agreement or arrangement between subcontractors if the amount of the agreement or arrangement is less than the lesser of (1) 10 percent of the amount of the higher tier subcontractor's work; or (2) $25,000. “Subcontract” also shall mean any subcontract agreement or arrangement that any Contractor or Subcontractor creates by dividing work into smaller increments for award to any subcontracting entity created for the purpose of awarding a subcontract that is not subject to this Chapter on the basis that it fails to meet either of the monetary thresholds for a Subcontract set above in this subsection (h).

(i) “Subcontractor” shall mean any person or persons, association, cooperative, firm, partnership, corporation, trustee, trustee in bankruptcy, receiver, or combination thereof including without limitation any subcontractor, entering into a Subcontract.

(j) “Sweatshop Labor” shall mean work performed by any Worker under terms or conditions that seriously or repeatedly violate laws of the jurisdiction within which the work is performed governing: (i) wages: (ii) employee benefits; (iii) health and safety, including without limitation exposure to hazardous or toxic substances; (iv) labor, including without limitation collective bargaining rights; (v) environmental conditions; (vi) nondiscrimination, harassment, or retaliation, including without limitation all laws prohibiting workplace and employment discrimination; (vii) freedom of association; or (viii) building or fire codes. “Sweatshop Labor” also shall mean any work performed by any person contributing to the provision of Goods to the City and County under a Contract or Subcontract that constitutes Foreign Convict or Forced Labor, or Abusive Forms of Child Labor or Slave Labor.

(k) “Worker” shall mean any employee of a Contractor or Subcontractor who contributes to the provision of Goods to the City and County under a Contract or Subcontract, including but not limited to any manufacturing or assembling of the Goods.

Sec. 12U.3. Prohibition on Sweatshop Conditions

Each Contractor and Subcontractor shall comply with each of the following requirements:

(a) Each Contractor and Subcontractor, regarding any Worker, shall comply with all human and labor rights and labor standards imposed by treaty or law on the country in which the Goods are made or assembled, and shall not engage in Sweatshop Labor.

(b) Each Contractor and Subcontractor shall pay at least the following minimum wages to Workers:

(1) to Workers working in the United States a base hourly wage, to be set and adjusted annually by the Director, to produce for 2,080 hours worked, an annual income equal to or greater than the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services most recent poverty guidelines for a family of three plus an additional 20 percent of the wage level paid, including without limitation amounts paid as hourly wages or health benefits; and

(2) for Workers working in countries other than the United States, a wage, to be set and adjusted annually by the Director, that shall be comparable to the wage for domestic manufacturers established above, adjusted to reflect the country's level of economic development by using the World Bank's most recent Gross National Income per capita Purchasing Power Parity Index.

(c) This Chapter specifies a minimum level of compensation to be paid Workers and shall not be construed to preempt or otherwise limit any other applicable law, regulation or requirement that requires a higher level of compensation.

(d) Each Contractor and Subcontractor shall keep or cause to be kept for a period of not less than three years from the date of the expiration or termination of the term of the Contract, basic payroll and time records for each Worker, and copies of any tax records filed with a governmental entity during the term. Such records shall include the following for each Worker: (a) name and job classification; (b) a general description of the work the Worker performed each day and the rate of pay (including rates of contributions for, or costs assumed to provide fringe benefits); and (c) the daily and weekly number of hours worked, deductions made; and (d) any actual wages paid.

(e) Each Contractor and Subcontractor shall maintain weekly certified payroll records for submission to the Office of Contract Administration, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, or the Director's designee or other authorized officers or agents of the City and County upon demand. The Contractor shall be responsible for submitting the payroll records of its Subcontractors, although Subcontractors shall submit such records directly to the City and County upon request. All certified payroll records shall be accompanied by a statement signed by the Contractor, or Subcontractor if requested by the City and County to submit the records, stating that the records are complete and correct.

(f) All records required to be maintained by this Chapter shall at all times be open to inspection and examination of the duly authorized officers and agents of the City and County of San Francisco.

(g) All Contractors and Subcontractors shall comply with the overtime laws and regulations applicable to their Workers. All overtime hours shall be worked voluntarily.

(h) No Contractor or Subcontractor shall subject any Worker to any physical, sexual, or other illegal harassment or abuse, including corporal punishment, illegal discrimination or retaliation for exercising his or her right to free speech and assembly or other rights protected under applicable labor or employment laws.

(i) No Contractor or Subcontractor shall require or compel any Worker to use contraceptives or take pregnancy tests.

(j) Before commencing any work under the Contract, the Contractor shall provide the City and County a list of the names and addresses of each Subcontractor to be utilized in the performance of the Contract, the Contractor's and each Subcontractor's applicable state tax identification number and the address of each manufacturing or other facility or operation of the Contractor and its Subcontractors for the performance of the Contract. The Office of Contract Administration shall post this information on its internet website before a Contractor or any of its Subcontractors may commence work under the Contract. Contractor shall update the list to show any changes in the Subcontractors or the facilities or operation during the term of the Contract. Before commencing any work under the Contract, the Contractor also shall provide the City and County a written statement showing the amount to be paid each Subcontractor and shall update this information in writing to show changes in the amount to be paid any Subcontractor or amounts to be paid Subcontractors added after submittal of the most recent statement to the City and County.

(k) During each year of the term of a Contract, the Director, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, or the Director's designee may request a written assurance from the Contractor and each of its Subcontractors that the Contractor or Subcontractor is in compliance with this Chapter. The request may seek confirmation of compliance with some or all of the requirements of this Chapter, and may require the response to be submitted under penalty of perjury. The Contractor or Subcontractor shall provide the written assurance within the time period specified by the Director, the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, or the Director's designee, which shall not be less than 14 days from receipt of the request.

(l) Each Contractor and Subcontractor shall be responsible for ensuring the Subcontractor's compliance with this Chapter.

(m) Contractors and Subcontractors shall demonstrate commitment to best practices and continuous improvement in management practices to eliminate Sweatshop Labor, including the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining. No Contractor or Subcontractor shall subject a Worker to harassment, intimidation or retaliation as a result of his or her efforts to freely associate or bargain collectively. This subsection shall not apply to Contractors or Subcontractors subject to the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. §§ 151 et seq.

(As this is a long document, refer to the source file for remainder of text.)