Small businesses employ nearly half this country’s workforce and represent 99.9 percent of all American businesses. For the American workforce to be successful, small businesses must be successful.
Yet nationwide research shows that workforce challenges are a problem. According to a recent study by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), nearly 25 percent of small businesses list “locating qualified employees” and “finding and keeping skilled employees” as critical issues facing their business. Further, 36 percent of small businesses report job openings they can’t fill.
Making this problem worse, certain policy proposals in Congress are a direct threat to small businesses and their workforce. These proposals could decimate Main Street businesses by dramatically increasing government involvement in everyday operations, increasing labor and employment mandates, and increasing costs to acquire and retain qualified employees.
Oppose the harmful PRO Act
The Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would dramatically upend long-standing employment law in favor of labor unions at the expense of small businesses and American workers. With numerous policies that would devastate small businesses such as legalizing secondary boycotts, abolishing state “Right-to-Work” laws, and banning captive audience meetings, this legislation is anti-worker, anti-free choice, and anti-small business. Our nation’s leaders should reject this bill on behalf of small businesses and those they employ nationwide.
Minimum wage hikes are a grim cause for concern
Congress is considering multiple proposals that would increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour or higher. These proposals would immediately increase labor costs for small businesses in 40 states where minimum wage is currently below $15 per hour. These federal minimum wage hike proposals would implement a one-size-fits-all policy that mandates small businesses in rural, low cost-of-living areas pay the same wage as an employer in an urban, higher cost-of-living area.
NFIB research shows a grim economic reality if Congress raises the minimum wage to $15 per hour. This policy change would result in 1.3 million lost jobs in the Unites States with small businesses bearing most of these job losses. To prevent these devastating effects to our economy, Congress must reject both the Raise the Wage Act and the Higher Wages for American Workers Act.
Reject the one-sized-fits all heat standard
On August 30, 2024, the Biden administration’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) proposed a Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings rule (Heat Standard). OSHA’s proposed Heat Standard is a one-sized-fits-all approach that would add onerous new mandates on small businesses across the country, without regard to regional climate differences or industry-specific job functions. The Trump administration should immediately reject it and withdraw the proposed Heat Standard rule. Additionally, Congress should pass legislation to ensure that the proposed OSHA Heat Standard cannot be finalized and prevent OSHA from undertaking a similar rulemaking. Preventing a heat standard will alleviate the threat of new onerous regulatory compliance costs on small businesses and prevent a future administration from pursuing a similar rule.
Protect the small business workforce
Small businesses operate differently than their larger competitors. Most small businesses don’t have, and simply can’t afford, a dedicated compliance officer or human resources department. Those responsibilities typically fall on the business owner themselves. However, most small business owners are not labor and employment law experts. Instead, they are experts at running their business and cultivating a rewarding workplace environment where their employees are fulfilled and satisfied, and the business can survive and grow.
America’s small business employers know the truth: their workforce is their greatest asset. They go above and beyond to protect their employees and attract and retain talent. It’s time for lawmakers in Washington D.C. to recognize this and let small business owners breathe a sigh of relief from looming mandates. Congress and the administration can deliver pro-business policies for small businesses, and to do it, they must reject the radical, big-government mandates that bury small businesses in uncertainty, regulatory burdens, and red tape.
Dylan Rosnick is a Principal of Federal Government Relations at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).