City of Burlington

IN THE YEAR TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FOUR ORDINANCE 7.3
AN ORDINANCE IN RELATION TO TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS TO ARTICLE VI OF CHAPTER 21 OF THE BURLINGTON CODE OF ORDINANCES, COMMENCING AT SECTION 21-80, LIVABLE WAGES TO STREAMLINE ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER PROCESSES
Sponsor: Traverse
Public Hearing Dates:
First reading: October 28, 2024
Referred to: Board of Finance
Rules suspended re referral: October 28, 2024
Second reading: November 12, 2024
Action: adopted
Date: 11/12/24
Signed by Mayor: 11/19/24
Published: 11/27/24
Effective: 12/18/24

It is hereby Ordained by the City Council of the City of Burlington as follows:

That Chapter 21, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Burlington be and hereby is amended by amending Article VI (Livable Wages) thereof, commencing at Section 21-80, to read as follows:

Section 21-80, as written.

Section 21-81, Definitions:

Subsections (a) to (d), as written.

(e) Designated accountability monitor shall mean a nonprofit organization, business, or individual hired or retained by the city that is independent of the city contractors it is monitoring one or more city employees or a city contracted consultant tasked with responsibility for enforcement of provisions of this article.

(f) Employee means a person who is employed on a full-time or part-time regular basis. In addition, commencing with the next fiscal year, a seasonal or temporary employee of the City of Burlington who works ten (10) or more hours per week and has been employed by the City of Burlington for a period of four (4) years shall be considered a covered employee commencing in the fifth year of employment. “Employee” shall not refer to volunteers working without pay or for a nominal stipend, persons working in an approved apprenticeship program, persons who are hired for a prescribed period of six (6) months or less to fulfill the requirements to obtain a professional license as an attorney, persons who are hired through youth employment programs or student workers or interns participating in established educational internship programs.

(g) Employer-assisted health care means health care benefits provided by employers for employees (or employees and their dependents) at the employer’s cost or at an employer contribution towards the purchase of such health care benefits, provided that the employer cost or contribution consists of at least one two dollar and twenty fifteen cents ($21.1520) per hour. (S Commencing July 1, 2025, said amount shall be adjusted every fiscal year two (2) years for inflation, by the chief administrative officer of the city by the percentage increase from March 1 in the prior calendar year to March 1 in the current calendar year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Workers: Medical Care in the U.S. City Average (CPIMEDSL), or, if the U.S. Department of Labor ceases to publish such measure of inflation, a reasonably similar measure of medical inflation chosen by the chief administrative officer.

Subsections (h) to (j), as written.

(k) Joint Fiscal Office estimate means the hourly rate needed to support the basic needs budget as determined in the most recently published report of the Joint Fiscal Office of the State of Vermont for a single person using a model of two (2) adults residing in a two (2) bedroom living unit in an urban area with the moderate cost food plan.

(l) CPI-U means the increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Workers (Northeast Region) from March 1 in the prior calendar year until March 1 in the current calendar year, or, if the U.S. Department of Labor ceases to publish such index, a reasonable alternative measure of inflation selected by the chief administrative officer.

Section 21-82, Livable wages required:

(a) Every covered employer shall pay each and every covered employee at least a livable wage no less than:

(1) For a covered employer that provides employer assisted health care, the livable wage shall be at least thirteen dollars and ninety four cents ($13.94) per hour seventeen dollars and ninety-six cents ($17.96) per hour on the effective date of the amendments to this article. Effective July 1, 2025, the chief administrative officer shall adjust this amount to be the greater of either the most recent Joint Fiscal Office estimate or the previous year’s rate increased by CPI-U, as the terms Joint Fiscal Office estimate and CPI-U are defined in Section 21-81 hereof. This rate shall again be adjusted every July 1 thereafter using the same methodology for each such subsequent year.

(2) For a covered employer that does not provide employer assisted health care, the livable wage shall be at least fifteen dollars and eighty three cents ($15.83) per hour nineteen dollars and fifteen cents ($19.15) per hour on the effective date of the amendments to this article. Effective July 1, 2025, the chief administrative officer shall set this amount as the amount set forth in the foregoing paragraph (1) increased by the amount calculated as set forth in Section 21-81(g) of this article. This amount shall again be adjusted accordingly every July 1 thereafter.

(3) Covered employees whose wage compensation consists of more or other than hourly wages, including, but not limited to, tips, commissions, flat fees or bonuses, shall be paid so that the total of all wage compensation will at least equal the livable wage as established under this article.

(b) The amount of the livable wage established in this section shall be adjusted by the chief administrative officer of the city as of July 1 of each year based upon a report of the Joint Fiscal Office of the State of Vermont that describes the basic needs budget for a single person but utilizes a model of two (2) adults residing in a two (2) bedroom living unit in an urban area with the moderate cost food plan. Should there be no such report from the Joint Fiscal Office, the chief administrative officer shall obtain and utilize a model of two (2) adults residing in a two (2) bedroom living unit in an urban area with a moderate food cost plan shall not become effective until rates meet or exceed the 2010 posted livable wage rates. Prior to May 1 preceding any such adjustments and prior to May 1 of each calendar year thereafter, the chief administrative officer will provide public notice of this adjustment by posting a written notice in a prominent place in City Hall by sending written notice to the city council and, in the case of covered employees that have requested individual notice and provided contact information to the chief administrative officer, by notice to each such covered employer. However, once a livable wage is applied to an individual employee, no reduction in that employee’s pay rate is permissible due to this annual adjustment.

(b) Annually prior to May 1, the chief administrative officer shall provide public notice of the wage rates required under this section effective July 1 of the same year. Public notice shall, at a minimum, include positing online and at City Hall, issuance of a press release, and written notice to the members of the city council and the officers or steering committees of the neighborhood planning assemblies.

(c) Covered employers shall provide at least twelve (12) compensated days off per year for full-time covered employees, and a proportionate amount for part-time covered employees, for sick leave, vacation, personal, or combined time off leave. For a contract with a covered employer with a duration of less than one (1) fiscal year, the minimum number of compensated days off shall be prorated according to the length of the contract. If compensated days off are designated by the covered employer for vacation or combined leave, then covered employees shall have the ability to cash out unused leave accrued during the term of the covered employer’s contract with the City.

Section 21-83, as written.

Section 21-84, Enforcement:

(a) Each service contract or grant covered by this article shall contain provisions requiring that the covered employer or grantee submit a written certification, under oath, during each year during the term of the service contract or grant, that the covered employer or grantee (including all of its subcontractors and subgrantees, if any) is in compliance with this article. The failure of a contract to contain such provisions does not excuse a covered employer from its obligations under this article. The covered employer shall agree to post a notice regarding the applicability of this section in any workplace or other location where employees or other persons contracted for employment are working. The covered employer shall agree to provide payroll records or other documentation for itself and any subcontractors or subgrantees, as deemed necessary by the chief administrative officer of the City of Burlington, within ten (10) business days from receipt of the City of Burlington’s request. For contracts or grants with a maximum limiting amount of $50,000 or more per fiscal year and not in connection with a highway or heavy construction project otherwise covered under the Davis-Bacon Act, 40 U.S.C. § 3141 et seq., as the same may be renumbered, renamed, or amended from time to time (the “Davis-Bacon Act”), the chief administrative officer shall develop a form of payroll record, which shall be required to accompany each invoice or other request for payment from the covered employer. All such records shall be forwarded to the designated accountability monitor for review and retention.

(b) The chief administrative officer of the City of Burlington designated accountability monitor may require that a covered employer submit proof of compliance with this article at any time, including but not limited to:

(1) Verification of an individual employee’s compensation;

(2) Production of payroll, health insurance enrollment records, or other relevant documentation; or

(3) Evidence of proper posting of notice.

If a covered employer is not able to provide that information within ten (10) business days of the request, the chief administrative officer the designated accountability officer may turn the matter over to the city attorney’s office for further enforcement proceedings.

(c) The City of Burlington shall appoint one or more designated accountability monitors that shall have the authorityThe designated accountability monitor shall have the following authority, in addition to the authority set forth in subsection (b), above:

(1) To inform and educate covered employers and their employees about all applicable provisions of this article and other applicable laws, codes, and regulations;

(2) To work with the chief administrative officercity attorney to create a system to receive complaints under this article;

(3) To visit work sites of city contractors (and their subcontractors) or communicate directly with contractors’ employees to check for compliance with this article;

(4) To assist the chief administrative officer to conduct periodic audits of payroll and leave records of covered employees; and

(5) To refer credible complaints to the city attorney’s office for potential enforcement action under this article and assist in enforcement actions.

The designated accountability monitor shall forward to the City of Burlington all credible complaints of violations within ten (10) days of their receipt.

Subsections (d) to (f), as written.

(g) A violation of this article shall be a civil offense subject to a civil penalty of from two hundred dollars ($200.00) to five hundred dollars ($500.00). All law enforcement officers, the designated accountability monitor, the city attorney or designee, and the chief administrative officer or designee, and any other duly authorized municipal officials are authorized to issue a municipal complaint for a violation of this article. Each day any covered employee is not compensated as required by this article shall constitute a separate violation.

Subsections (h) to (j), as written.

Section 21-85, Other provisions:

Subsections (a) to (c), as written.

(d) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of this section, where employees are represented by a bargaining unit or labor union pursuant to rights conferred by state or federal law and a collective bargaining labor agreement is in effect governing the terms and conditions of employment of those employees, this chapter shall not apply to those employees and the collective bargaining labor agreement shall control. Likewise for employees working on highway or heavy construction projects covered under the Davis-Bacon Act, payment of wages and provision of benefits as required under that act shall be deemed compliance with the wage rate and benefits provisions of this article.

Subsection (e), as written.

(f) The chief administrative officer of the city shall have the authority to promulgate rules as necessary or convenient to administer the provisions of this article, which shall become effective upon approval by the city councilposted on the City’s website. Whenever such rules are made or substantively amended, notice of the same and a web address providing access to the rules shall be promptly communicated to the Board of Finance and published once in a newspaper of general circulation, and the rules shall become effective fifteen (15) days from publication. The city council may amend or repeal any published rule by motion.

Sections 21-86 and 21-87, as written.

Section 21-88, Annual reporting:

On or before April 15 of each year, the city attorney’s office shall submit a report to the city council that provides the following information:

(a) A list of all covered employers broken down by department. This list also shall be provided upon request to the Vermont Department of Labor.;

(b) A list of all covered employers whose service contract did not contain the language required by this article.; and

(c) All complaints filed and investigated by the city attorney’s office and the results of such investigation.

Section 21-89, Effective date:

The amendments to this article shall take effect on January 1, 202514, and shall not be retroactively applied; provided that the prior version of this article shall theretofore remain effective.

* Material stricken out deleted.
** Material underlined added.

er/Ordinances 2024/Technical Amendments: Living Wage

November 12, 2024