See’s Candies: Letters Show Noncompliance with Equal Benefits Ordinance

I have been working the phones this morning to dig up some more information on the reason behind See’s Candies closing its Union Square store. I’ve been able to obtain some public record letters on the store’s lease renewal and statements from the company and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.

Thanks to everyone who gave us feedback on our original post and to the other bloggers covering the issue. It continues to appear that See’s Candies chose to end the lease with the city on its Union Square branch rather than fully comply with the city’s Equal Benefits Ordinance, which requires that companies provide the same benefits for domestic partners as they do for married couples. This policy was originally orchestrated by EQCA’s Geoff Kors in 1996 and has provided the basis for similar ordinances across the country.

Please see below for the statements and letters. We’ll update you with any new information that comes in.

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Below are the two letters on the public record. The first letter, from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, documents the company’s failure to comply with the Equal Benefits Ordinance. It appears that See’s Candies was either not in compliance with the city’s requirements for equal protection, or unwilling to demonstrate the proper documentation. The second, from See’s Candies to the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department (which oversaw the contract for the store), shows a decision to end the lease rather than comply with the ordinance.



The San Francisco Human Rights Commission also sent us a statement. There are still some questions left unanswered about the benefits enjoyed by See’s union employees. Note the Commission’s willingness to continue working with the company.

Thank you for contacting us to discuss the Equal Benefits compliance status of See's Candies. Please note that in addition to Equal Benefits issues there may be other reasons that we are not aware of that caused See's Candies to vacate the kiosk in Union Square.

The San Francisco Equal Benefits Ordinance requires companies that have leases with or provide goods or services to the City and County of San Francisco to offer the same benefits to employees with spouses and employees with domestic partners. Domestic partners are defined as same-sex and opposite-sex couples who are registered with any state or local domestic partner registry. To comply with the Equal Benefits Ordinance, contractors must submit a declaration of their employee benefits and provide supporting documentation that demonstrates that domestic partners are receiving the same benefits as spouses.

The Human Rights Commission worked with See's Candies last year with the goal of completing the Equal Benefits compliance process. We were unable to make a determination of compliance because See's Candies did not provide a complete set of employee benefit information. See's Candies expressed concern that the documentation for their employees who receive their benefits through collective bargaining agreements would be insufficient. Information about the benefits that are provided to their non-union employees was also incomplete.

The Human Rights Commission remains willing to assist See's Candies in completing the Equal Benefits compliance process whenever they choose to proceed.

Please contact me or Larry Brinkin, 415-252-2510, if you have further questions that we can help with.

Warm regards,
Tamra
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Tamra Winchester
Contract Compliance Officer
City & County of San Francisco
Human Rights Commission

A representative from See’s sent us the following statement today. It is the same statement that was previously distributed on the See’s Candies in San Francisco blog and elsewhere:

See's Candies was mentioned in an article in the San Francisco Examiner written by Katie Worth that was published on June 20, 2009. We first learned of the article on Monday June 22nd. The article is factually untrue and the inaccuracies were addressed with the Examiner which prompted them to edit the story. For years See's Candies has provided domestic partner benefits including health insurance, with some of these benefits negotiated in labor agreements with unions representing See's workers. These benefits continue to be offered today to union and non-union employees of See's. Recently, our Union Square location lease was taken over by the City of San Francisco who has additional requirements for benefits beyond those offered by See's. As any change to the benefits offered would require opening all related union contracts for negotiation, and the added benefits required were relatively minor and not consistent with our overall benefit plan, See's attempted to seek a compromise with the City on its required benefit package. Unable to agree, and not wishing to renegotiate the union benefits offered to a single store in San Francisco, we elected to not renew our Union Square lease when it expired. See's was not "evicted", and we do offer health and welfare coverage for domestic partners on the same basis as for spouses. The allegations in the article were not discussed with See's prior to the article being run.

Thank you for your interest in See's Candies.

Diane Ihrig
See's Candies
Consumer Affairs Department

We asked Diane via email for the name of the union to which the employees belonged. She responded, “I’m sorry, I do not have that information available to share with you.” We called UFCW Local 648 and they confirmed they had represented the store’s employees.