Posted on: Thursday, July 15, 2004

EDITORIAL
'Pay gap' plan for the city not needed

Word that thousands of Hawai'i National Guardsmen and reservists will soon be called to active duty is sending shock waves through the local employment community.

As reported by Dan Nakaso, the hardest-hit will be the self-employed or those who operate a small business.

There are substantial protections for those called up under the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act. But these protections, involving return-to-work rights and other benefits, apply primarily to salaried employees in both the private and public sector.

Those who are self-employed either have to find someone to take over their business or simply leave it to drift while they are away.

It is easy to say small-business owners and the self-employed should have backup plans in place. But that ignores the reality of the struggle it takes simply to keep business going on a day-to-day basis.

What is not available, either to the self-employed or to those on salary, is a guarantee that one's income will be made whole while on active duty.

City Councilman Charles Djou, himself an Army reservist, has proposed taking care of that problem for city employees who are called into active duty.

Djou's plan — while clearly well-intentioned — has several drawbacks.

First, it would make use of taxpayer money to create a special privileged class of reservist or guardsman. While some private companies do make their employees "whole" when they are called up, others cannot or will not.

Second, it is a mistake to assume everyone called to active duty takes a financial hit.

Rough estimates by the National Guard are that about two-thirds of those called up make as much (or, in some cases, even more) through their active-duty status as they do in their civilian job. About a third do take a pay cut.

Short of covering the pay gap, there are things the city can do to ease the burden on anyone called up. This might include freezing property tax obligations or other city assessments during the period of active duty.

The key here is to provide a benefit for those called to active duty that is available equally to all.

And yes, the community obviously owes a huge debt of gratitude to all the men and women who are called from their everyday lives to serve the country.

But Djou's pay gap proposal goes beyond what is necessary.