NEW ORLEANS - During yesterday's regular meeting, the Council passed three ordinances authored by District "D" Councilmember Jared Brossett establishing several new requirements regarding hiring standards and the issuing of City contracts. 

Ordinance 32,724 expands the application of the Hire NOLA program to any project funded through the Infrastructure Maintenance Fund (IMF). Under the current law, Hire NOLA applies to any public works project valued at greater than $150,000 or to any Cooperative Endeavor Agreement (CEA) valued at greater than $150,000. For these projects funded with public dollars, contractors have to use the best efforts to employ local workers. The new law will require any project funded with local dollars through the IMF to comply with the Hire NOLA rules.   

This ordinance will not change the basic requirements of the Hire NOLA program; it will simply ensure that any IMF contract paid for with local dollars will include local hire goals.

"This is an incremental step to expanding opportunity for local workers. My goal is to simply give local workers who may be switching jobs or re-entering the job market an opportunity to learn on the job and succeed while the city has so many roadwork, drainage, and catch basin projects in the pipeline," said Councilmember Jared C. Brossett.

Ordinance 32,725 requires that any third party who is awarded a City contract and fails to fulfill its contractual obligations, reimburse those funds to the City. This change will maximize the City's ability to recover economic benefits, hold those who receive taxpayer dollars accountable, and enable the Council to assess how public dollars are being spent.

Ordinance 32,745 prohibits the City from inquiring into the salary history of any person applying for a classified or unclassified position with the City of New Orleans and relying upon the salary histories of applicants for City positions to determine starting salaries. 

According to the 2015 United States Census Bureau report, women in Louisiana are paid on average sixty-nine cents for each dollar paid to a man, which is the largest gender earnings disparity of any state in the nation. The goal of this ordinance is to end the cycle of pay discrimination that often begins during the hiring process and disproportionally affects women and minorities, who are already fighting other forms of discrimination and a wage gap.

"By prohibiting these questions, we are taking steps to stop an employment practice that perpetuates discrimination, level the playing field, and put an end to historical patterns of bias and discrimination. This will ensure that wage and salary decisions are made based on merit, and not do not reflect the inequality inherent in an unfair, unequal system," said Councilmember Brossett.

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Contact:

Domonique Dickerson
Chief of Staff
Councilmember Jared C. Brossett, Chair of Budget/Audit/BoR Committee
504-658-1040
dcdickerson@nola.gov