Editor’s Note: Rule Weary in Seattle

David Lee founded FareStart in Seattle to train chefs because he believed the homeless would benefit from the dignity of preparing food as a vocation. He launched Field Roast, a producer of vegan meats, because he considers the mass industrialization of animals as a blight on our culture. He has nurtured a caring culture at his SoDo production facility, remodeling the space so production workers have plenty of space and natural light.

So when Seattle passed a paid-sick-leave law mandating a set number of paid days for sick leave, Lee accepted it. But the results have been disappointing.

For the first time, he says, I have employees lying to me. A medical appointment becomes a paid day off.

The citys $15 minimum-wage mandate was another challenge.

It hurts businesses like ours that compete on a national level against companies in places like Arkansas that pay $7 [an hour], says Lee. But, wanting to do the right thing, this summer Lee boosted the wages of his employees to $15 an hour four years before he was required to do so under the law.

Seattle can be proud that its $15 minimum-wage law has led the way in driving up wages across the country. And because it is being implemented over seven years and at a time when the local economy is strong, there have been relatively few negative impacts (page 20). Similarly, while there may be widespread abuse of sick leave, there is evidence that the ability of workers to take the time off helps prevent the spread of the flu and other harmful viruses.

But each new layer of regulation is an added burden on business. Now the city is adding yet more regulations one set that will require businesses to set schedules for employees two weeks in advance and yet another that requires landlords to choose tenants in the order applications are submitted. Whats next?

A requirement that companies hire employees in the order that they applied?

While each regulation may have some logic to it, the cumulative effect is to make it harder for businesses to fulfill their important role as job creators. The rules can be particularly hard on small businesses without the resources to hire staff to deal with the complications regulations create.

Regulations also create bureaucracy. The Seattle Times reported that to enforce a law requiring landlords to select tenants in the order in which they replied, the city would hire two employees at a cost of $200,000 and launch sting operations. Really?

Meanwhile, the city isnt enforcing basic sanitation laws to prevent the homeless from leaving excrement on city sidewalks. The Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience came close to shutting down because an illegal encampment just a block away included tents serving as drug galleries that made it unsafe for the museums employees and visitors. The problem contributed to the shutting down of the nearby House of Hong restaurant and resulted in negative reviews for the museum on websites like Trip Advisor during the important summer tourist season.

It will be interesting to see if the citys new director of homelessness, appointed in August at an annual salary of $137,500, can address this expanding problem.

Clearly, what is happening is that government is forcing business to take on the social imperative, Lee says.

The altruistic entrepreneur accepts that, up to a point. But the city needs to spend more time attending to basic services. And it has to stop pretending it can solve the worlds problems on the backs of small businesses.