House Bill 235, which has the backing of organized labor, could have a big impact on Ohio's small businesses
Be the voice of small business and make your voice heard with your elected officials in the Ohio legislature.
House Bill 235, as currently written, is limited to the hiring and employment practices in one of Ohio’s industries, however the precedent this bill sets is very dangerous, and could easily be expanded to any industry in Ohio! Today it’s the oil refinery industry but if organized labor has its way this could become the pathway for your business next. In fact, similar proposals in other states have already been expanded and impact portions of the agricultural industry.
HB 235’s primary supporter is organized labor, who in their own words are trying to secure their “market share.” This bill was introduced as a purported “safety bill”, with supporters claiming union workers are necessary to mitigate risk. As you know, there are plenty of local, state, and federal laws and regulations already on the books to make this claim unwarranted.
Here are the core provisions of HB 235:
- Injects state government into certain private sector employment by mandating 80 percent of employees must have completed a US Dept. of Labor approved apprenticeship program by 2025.
- Prescribes the remaining 20 percent of employees have a certain number of hours worked.
- Requires rigorous recordkeeping on all employees, contractors, and subcontractors w/$10,000 fines per violation of the bill, each day constitutes a new violation
- Stipulates quarterly reporting of records to state agencies for verification.
- Allows any person to file a complaint with no repercussions for repeated, unmerited complaint filing.
Please take a few minutes to email your legislator and ask that state government stay out of the hiring practices of private sector employers and VOTE NO on HB 235. This dangerous precedent could have a chilling effect on Ohio employers, clearly violates free market principles, and ignores all the workplace safety rules and regulations already in place.
