{"id":49491,"date":"2015-02-04T13:42:46","date_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/04\/a-crappy-attitude-toward-regulations.html"},"modified":"2015-02-04T13:42:46","modified_gmt":"2015-02-04T13:42:46","slug":"a-crappy-attitude-toward-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/04\/a-crappy-attitude-toward-regulations.html","title":{"rendered":"A crappy attitude toward regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to an example of what happens when you take an idea too far: according to a GOP Senator from North Carolina, businesses (including food service businesses) should be allowed to "opt out" of regulations requiring employees to wash their hands using the toilet — if<\/i> they make that opt-out public.<\/p>\n

Now, that has just enough head-scratching thinking-it-through to catch the attention, coupled with the suspicion that, regulations and signs admonishing them aside, not all employees are as diligent as it seems.<\/p>\n

But, really. Let's take this idea a step longer. Sen. Tillis seems to think public disclosure creates a sufficient customer reaction for the market to drive course corrections by business. I think that may be true for broad categories of concerns, but raises its own issues:<\/p>\n

1. This particular item is a public health matter. This isn't even a "we use\/don't use GMO coffee beans" kind of a personal belief thing. Not washing your hands potentially puts customers (heck, other workers) at risk of infectious disease.<\/p>\n

2. What precisely should be the nature of sufficient disclosure. A sign in the bathroom saying "We don't force our employees to scrub up after they take a shit"? Maybe a sign on the front door? Or perhaps on a little bulletin board way in the back. Or a note on the web page? <\/p>\n

Better yet, since that seems so declasse, maybe just a notice tucked away somewhere "This establishment has opted out of City Regulation 103-249b, and we pass on the savings to you!"<\/i> Or, heck, maybe it's a religious objection, in which case it can simply say, "We believe in freedom of conscience, and will serve you in keeping with our faith in the Almighty."<\/p>\n

3. Now multiply that by all the other regulations a company might choose to disassociate from. Who's going to look up the meaning of each and every city, county, state, and federal regulation a company chooses to opt out of because MARKET FREEDOM!?<\/p>\n

4. How soon before companies argue that they shouldn't have to make such disclosures? Compelling such commercial speech is clearly against the First Amendment. Why punish a company that chooses to free itself from the regulatory morass? "Let the surviving marketplace choose!" should be our mantra. Word will eventually get around about which restaurants have a higher dysentery rate, right? In the meantime, enjoy your latte!<\/p>\n

5. How many regulations will we need about what and how a company reveals such deregulated items to the public?<\/p>\n

Also, I know it's almost considered axiomatic in some circles, but what exactly does the US being "one of the most regulated nations in the history of the planet" actually mean? How was that measured? Is that necessarily a bad thing (sounds kind of Old Testament to me, Senator)?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\n
\n<\/a>
\nGOP Senator: Don’t Force Employees To Wash Their Hands After Using Toilet<\/a><\/span>
\nIn a week packed with news over concerns for public health, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) described his own history of opposing certain health and hygiene regulations, including those that require employees to wash their hands after using the bathroom.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to an example of what happens when you take an idea too far: according to a GOP Senator from North Carolina, businesses (including food service businesses) should be allowed to "opt out" of regulations requiring employees to wash their hands using the toilet — if they make that opt-out public. Now, that has just … Continue reading “A crappy attitude toward regulations”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33640,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/05\/07\/seeking-a-balance-in-regulatory-oversight.html","url_meta":{"origin":49491,"position":0},"title":"Seeking a balance in regulatory oversight","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-May-13 9:39am","format":false,"excerpt":"I tend to rant and rave (yes) on occasion about businesses trying to get out from under necessary health and safety regs, in the name of making big bucks, and in the process endangering the health and lives of employees, customers, and neighbors.But I am not unsympathetic to the burdens\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132187,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/08\/soon-to-be-renamed-the-department-of-management.html","url_meta":{"origin":49491,"position":1},"title":"Soon to be renamed the "Department of Management"","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 8-Dec-16 1:32pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Trump's ability to pick people whose life goal seems to be to roll everything back that's happened in the last eight years (if not the last eighty) is certainly fascinating to watch, if only in an \"avalanche slowly rumbling down the mountain toward a bus full of nuns\" fashion.After having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4674,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/07\/25\/legal_circus.html","url_meta":{"origin":49491,"position":2},"title":"Legal circus","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 25-Jul-03 2:17pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Meanwhile, over across the pond, the EU is looking at imposing safety gear on circus workers, based on stepladder height regulations. Yes, that means trapeze artists with hard hats. Obviously...","rel":"","context":"In "ZT & PC"","block_context":{"text":"ZT & PC","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/zt-pc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132750,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/02\/03\/its-good-to-have-friends-in-high-places.html","url_meta":{"origin":49491,"position":3},"title":"It's Good to Have "Friends" In High Places","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 3-Feb-17 4:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The Dodd-Frank reforms were put in only a very few years ago, in a compromise attempt to keep banks from doing the screwball gambling that led to the Great Recession under the previous GOP President. But ...Quoth our new monied class President (emphasis mine): \"We expect to be cutting a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1342,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2002\/01\/22\/wow_a_federal_i.html","url_meta":{"origin":49491,"position":4},"title":"Wow — a federal initiative that makes business unhappy?","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 22-Jan-02 3:24pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Echoing the efforts of many states, the FTC is proposing setting up a national no-call list where people could register to keep telemarketers from calling them, with violators liable to...","rel":"","context":"In "Hi-Tech"","block_context":{"text":"Hi-Tech","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/hi-tech"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132203,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/12\/10\/the-internal-witch-hunts-begin-energy-edition.html","url_meta":{"origin":49491,"position":5},"title":"The Internal Witch Hunts Begin (Energy Edition)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 10-Dec-16 11:49am","format":false,"excerpt":"The Trump transition team -- not even in power yet, and without even a Secretary of Energy nominee -- is already sending inquiries to the Dept of Energy, looking for lists of names from the agency and at various energy labs around the country who have been involved in anything\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49491\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}