NFIB prepares to fight again proposals harmful for small business
A new, two-year legislative term starts January 15, 2019, with NFIB preparing for the return of perennial proposals and a few new ones that could be bad for small business.
Stopping Job-Killing, Minimum-Wage Increases
The minimum wage is earned by just 2.7 percent of the nation’s workers, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and most of them “tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers (ages 16 to 19) paid by the hour, about 10 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 2 percent of workers age 25 and older.” In short, the minimum wage is an entry-level wage earned mostly by teenagers and young adults still living at home. Increases in the minimum wage have only one major effect—eliminating entry-level jobs. In spite of these facts, proponents of ever-increasing rates wrongly argue that they’re needed to lift people out of poverty, even though little to no evidence back it up.
Fighting Mandated Mandatory Paid Sick, Family, and Personal Leave
The good news is that the vast majority of businesses already offer paid or unpaid time off, and for any reason the employee chooses: sickness, care for a family member, parental duties, personal or family member victim of domestic violence, etc. (see infographic here). Also, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act “provides certain employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year. It also requires that their group health benefits be maintained during the leave.” Additional state mandates could do more harm than good. Mandatory paid leave would only impose unnecessary limitations on these businesses. Such initiatives assume one size fits all. In the small-business world, what works in one company could be detrimental for the next. The rigid nature of mandated paid leave often has a negative impact on employee morale.
Stopping Predicative Scheduling Proposals
Small-business owners cannot anticipate their needs days in advance, especially those in industries like restaurants and construction, which staffs as projects are picked up and events are planned. Small employers already provide their employees with mutually beneficial scheduling arrangements that allow for consistency and reliability for both the worker and owner. Additionally, many small businesses lack formal human resource operations. Small businesses, in most instances, have fewer employees thus less flexibility when unforeseen issues arise.
