All Covered Employers shall pay no less than the Fair Employment Wage to Covered Employees. Determination of the Fair Employment Wage shall be in accordance with the following:
(a) Amount of Fair Employment Wage:
(1) The Fair Employment Wage shall be calculated on an hourly basis and shall be at least eight dollars and twenty cents ($8.20) per hour beginning January 1, 2001; eight dollars and seventy cents ($8.70) beginning October 1, 2001; and nine dollars and twenty cents ($9.20) beginning October 1, 2002. As of October 1, 2023, the annual Fair Employment Wage shall be at least fifteen dollars and thirty-three cents ($15.33).Thereafter, the Fair Employment Wage shall be adjusted by the City of Cleveland on an annual basis, beginning October 1, 2024 and each year thereafter in proportion to the Consumer Price Index for Northeast Ohio, as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor.
(2) Tipped employees, i.e., employees for whom a substantial portion of their compensation consists of tips or gratuities, shall be paid an hourly wage which, when combined with the compensation received in tips, will at least equal the Fair Employment Wage.
(b) All employees working for the City shall be paid at least a Fair Employment Wage. Work being performed by City employees at the time of the effective date of this chapter may not be contracted out unless the contractor pays employees performing that work the Fair Employment Wage or the current wages and benefits being paid to workers doing that or similar work, whichever is higher, regardless of the number of employees.
(c) Any new jobs created by the City that are not currently being performed by City employees as of the effective date of this ordinance must be paid a fair employment wage if contracted out, regardless of the number of employees.
(d) Health Care Incentives:
(1) In order to encourage Covered Employers to provide reasonable health care coverage to their employees, the City shall provide the following incentives to Covered Employers:
A. Applicable Departments shall consider the fact that a Service Contractor provides or agrees to provide during the course of the Service Contract reasonable health care insurance to Covered Employees working thirty (30) or more hours a week as a factor in determining the lowest and best or lowest responsible bid for any Service Contract. If a Service Contractor can demonstrate that it has offered reasonable health care insurance to its employees but as a group the employees have refused the health care insurance coverage, the Service Contractor is entitled to the same consideration and treatment in the bidding process as a Service Contractor who provides or agrees to provide reasonable health care insurance. The Division of Purchases and Supplies shall promulgate regulations for the evaluation of bids and proposals that provide for meaningful consideration of the offering of reasonable health care insurance in determining the lowest and best or lowest responsible bid. Such regulations must be reviewed and approved by Cleveland City Council.
B. Applicable Departments shall offer additional financial incentives to Recipients of Assistance who will provide reasonable health care insurance to their Covered Employees working thirty (30) or more hours a week during the term of the contract for Assistance. Examples of such incentives include: more favorable terms for a loan, such as a lower interest rate; a higher percentage of taxes to be credited or abated; a higher amount for a grant, etc. Whether or not such incentives have been offered; the reasons for offering or not offering such incentives; the terms of such incentives, if offered; and any evidence of the intent of the proposed Recipient of Assistance to provide reasonable health care insurance shall be a part of the information provided by the Applicable Department to Cleveland City Council for consideration in connection with any ordinance authorizing a contract for Assistance.
(2) In order to qualify a Covered Employer for an incentive as provided in the previous section, the reasonable health care insurance provided to employees must be comparable to a family health care insurance plan provided by the City to its employees.
(3) Evidence of the offer or provision or the intent to provide or offer reasonable health care insurance benefits qualifying a Covered Employer for such incentives shall lie submitted to the Applicable Department upon request.
(Ord. No. 802-2023. Passed 8-16-23, eff. 8-16-23)