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The less-publicized side of the Government Mandated Wage Constitutional Amendment is the requirement that nearly all public and private employers make available wage and certain personal information to any employee or person acting on behalf of an employee, including labor organizations and disgruntled workers, at no charge. An employee’s home address and salary information would no longer be protected—an invasion of privacy for some and a potential danger in extreme cases such as couples involved in divorce proceedings or victims of violent crime. For employers, including hospitals, the amendment also would impose time-consuming and costly record-keeping requirements. The amendment would require employers to maintain records going as far back as decades for all employees while they are on the payroll and for three years afterward with each employee’s name, address, occupation, pay rate, hours worked each day present and amount paid to the employee. Both public and private employers would have to provide these records, including wage rates, salaries and home addresses, without charge to any “interested party” with no limit on the number of requests allowed. Employers would spend time responding to requests and addressing concerns related to employee privacy and confidentiality of employer records. Under the amendment, the state also could conduct potentially costly and disruptive investigations requiring employers to provide all records. The majority of current hospital employees—health care workers, administration, food service, custodial staff—already earn more than minimum wage and would not be affected by the proposed increase but would be subject to the breaches in privacy. Legal opinions also suggest the amendment would mandate that Ohio’s 27,000 hospital volunteers—including candy stripers and those who volunteer to answer phones or greet patients and visitors—be paid minimum wage and be subject to record-keeping requirements. The Ohio Hospital Association Board of Trustees voted at its August meeting to oppose the amendment due to serious concerns about infringing on the privacy of hospital employees. The Board did not oppose the amendment based on the bump in the minimum wage from $4.25 to $6.85 an hour, but it could not support an amendment to the state’s constitution that required releasing the home addresses, salary information and other personal records of their hospitals’ employees. Agreeing that the proposed amendment does not protect the interests of Ohio employees in its effort to increase minimum wage, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Farm Bureau and the National Federation of Independent Business/Ohio have spoken out against the amendment. For more information, visit the chamber’s Web site at www.ohiochamber.com/governmental/personalprivacy.asp or Friends of Ohio Hospitals’ Web site at www.friendsofohiohospitals.org/ballot/default.htm. Signatures were filed in early August to place the amendment on the November ballot but with signatures still in the verification process it has not yet secured a place. A final decision is expected in the coming weeks on whether the issue will come before voters Nov. 7.
The Fine Print... |
