U.S. Supreme Court denies request for emergency injunction to block healthy San Francisco employer contribution mandates

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Golden Gate Restaurant Association's request for a temporary order barring San Francisco from requiring restaurant owners to contribute toward workers' health care costs, the San Francisco Chronicle reports (Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/31).

Employers represented by GGRA filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that its Healthy San Francisco program violated the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which pre-empts certain state and local government requirements regarding employer-sponsored benefits.

Healthy San Francisco was approved in 2006 to provide access to health care services at city clinics and public hospitals for the city's uninsured residents. The program requires private companies with at least 20 employees and not-for-profit groups with at least 50 employees to either provide health care benefits to workers at a cost that meets minimum spending levels or help cover the cost of Healthy San Francisco (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/11).

According to the Chronicle, the court likely will announce this fall whether it will hear GGRA's case (San Francisco Chronicle, 3/31).

Tip Credit

In related news, GGRA said it might be willing to drop the lawsuit if the city adopts a tip credit that would allow restaurants to reduce wait staff wages, the Chronicle reports. According to restaurant owners, the Healthy San Francisco fee is an additional financial burden to businesses that already pay one of the nation's highest minimum wages. San Francisco's current minimum wage is $9.79 per hour. Under the GGRA proposal, the city's minimum wage could be lowered to the state's minimum wage of $8 per hour without breaking California's no-tip-credit law.

Tim Paulson, director of the San Francisco Labor Council, said, "It would be ridiculous to even consider something like that," adding, "We're proud of having a minimum wage. Though it still doesn't get people out of poverty, it is movement in the right direction" (Knight, San Francisco Chronicle, 3/28).