March 5, 2021
Posted: Mar 5, 2021
Updated: 11:45 am
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – San Diego City Council expanded an ordinance requiring hotels to hire veterans laid off during the coronavirus pandemic.
The regulation was extended by one year and expired on Monday.
The San Diego Union Tribune According to reports, the law “aims to prevent the hotel industry from using mass layoffs to replace higher-paid veteran workers with cheaper ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Hotel executives are critical of the law because they think it is too vague and should have been involved in the negotiations.
The only Republican on the San Diego City Council, Chris Cate, was the only one to vote against the ordinance’s extension. Cate voted against because he doesn’t think anyone on the city council knows the hotel business enough to determine who to hire.
Others, including those in the industry, are concerned that the law is doing the unions a favor from the politicians they support.
The KUSI viewers have also reached out to us expressing concern about younger, new employees who have been hoping for a promotion in their workplace. They wonder if the employees trying to earn their streak are being left behind.
Attorney Michael Curran joined KUSI’s Lauren Phinney on Good Morning in San Diego to explain the issues he sees with this legislation.
Curran said, “The problem with such a regulation is that it contradicts actual state law.” Added: “The California State Labor Code states that employment in the county, in the state, is whatever. This means that the employer / employee can terminate the relationship at any time with or without a reason or notice, provided this is not a discriminatory or retaliatory reason. “
Curran went on to explain the problem of forcing companies to hire certain people. Explain: “Employers have forced themselves to recall certain workers when, frankly, everything has changed in the past year. The way we do business has changed, job descriptions have changed, hotels’ ability to fund their salaries has changed. The workload has changed. So everything has changed and we have politicians here who are not business people trying to explain to hotels, commercial property and venues how to run their business if they are not experienced in running that business. “
Curran said regulations like this are “ignorant” of the real problems these business owners are facing.
The full SDUT report can be read Here.
