MECHANICAL CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE
How New Jersey Has Helped My Business I have repeatedly heard that small businesses are an essential part of the economy. Let’s examine how my small business and others have been assisted by our state government. Mandatory Sick Leave This state now requires that employers give paid time off to employees – even part-time ones. This allows my employees to not show up for work but still be paid for almost any reason. One “part-time” employee told me she had to take her mother for a routine doctor visit. She scheduled this during work hours and took a full day off (five hours) so she would be paid. My employee was not sick, but I still had to pay her. As a former teacher, I never saw anything more widely misused than sick time; in my experience, calling out while actually sick was an exception. Obviously, paying people to not show up for work does not help my business. This also forces our Human Resource Department to account for hours worked, increasing their workload and recordkeeping. Ban the Box A while back, there was a push by the state to prevent employers from asking an applicant about their possible criminal past. Some in the Legislature felt it prevented people from getting a job due to their past behavior (record). Hmmm. At the request of the NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business), I was asked to give testimony at a hearing in Trenton concerning this matter. There were many interested parties there – politicians, reporters, business owners and convicted criminals. Despite the business owners having to take the day off work to be present at the meeting, most were prevented from speaking. Preference was given to the “unemployed criminals.” Several people with records gave long, drawnout testimony on how their criminal past often prevented them from being hired. After a long while, only a few business owners were finally allowed to give testimony; most of the time available had been consumed by the criminals’ words. Why preference was given to them, I will never know. The business owners should have had at least equal billing, as we were the ones creating and supplying the jobs. One employer testified that he ran a cleaning service that catered to private homes, usually in teams of two, with each team member working a different section or floor of the house. These homes were often unoccupied or had a nanny in charge of young children. He did not feel comfortable sending people with a record into either situation and feared losing work if it became 20 | New Jersey Automotive | April 2021
by KEITH KREHEL
public knowledge. He went on to say that most of his staff were women; if they caught on they were working with convicted criminals, they would quit and seek other work, leaving only the new hires on staff. He made some very sound points. By my memory, I was the only other business owner given the opportunity to speak. Again, I don’t know why we weren’t given equal billing or at least had alternating opportunities to testify, which would have made sense to me. My testimony consisted of the following points: 1. My shop is sizable, with many work areas too large to monitor. 2. My commercial customers often have trucks loaded with tools and/or expensive equipment. 3. Some vehicles are ambulances that could contain narcotics along with laptop computers, etc. As the owner of my business and caretaker of my customers’ property, I should be able to use my own judgment on the people I hire. Legislation that limits access to employees’ possible criminal past does not help me, could endanger my present employees and put my customers’ property at risk. Raising the Minimum Wage When I started working at 16, my first job was at Gino’s, cooking Kentucky-style fried chicken. Although the job paid 10 cents below minimum wage, I was glad to have it because I didn’t possess any skills. As I remember, it took a friend’s recommendation to get it. After a short while, I received raises that put me above minimum wage. If given the opportunity during the summer, I would work 40 hours and bring home about $52. I was fine with that, as I had money for gas in my car and a few bucks in my wallet. Living large! I realized this was a “pass-through” job that wasn’t meant to be a career (except maybe for the managers). I also learned how to scrub pots and mop floors “properly” and that I never wanted to own a restaurant. Fast-forward to today, and I hear legislators clamoring for a significantly higher minimum wage. Again, chances are these same proponents of a substantially increased minimum wage were never business owners. By my memory, I have made one hire at minimum wage over the last 30 years. This is simply because you cannot find skilled personnel to work for low wages in the free market – they will go elsewhere. The one minimum wage hire was worth only minimum wage to me, as he had no skills and barely spoke English. Communication was continued on pg. 43
