Thoughts on a $15/h Minimum Wage?

[orlando_wcbc]

As a small business owner with approx 30 minimum wage workers, the thought of a 30%+ increase in labour costs compared to the current minimum wage in my area is concerning. My area has one of the lowest costs of living in my country.

I’m already struggling a bit to service the business debt and have enough to cover my family of 5’s living expenses.

What are your opinions on how a $15 minimum wage would affect small businesses?

 

[knotty]

@orlando_wcbc Maybe I don't understand enough about the economy or politics but it doesn't really matter to me. I only have a few min. wage employees anyway and once their pay goes up I will raise my prices to compensate for it. Life and business will go on. Minor pain in the ass.

I think its stupid as fuck to do it federally because working in San Diego, CA vs Rector, AK are two very different areas with different COL.

 

[rektbyfaith]

@knotty Why wouldn't you just raise your prices now? If you can sell your products/services at a higher rate why aren't you?

 

[jazzhands]

@rektbyfaith because that would mean he is priced higher than his competitors.

 

[rektbyfaith]

@jazzhands Okay so this is not an easy solution if minimum wage goes up, you can't simply raise your prices because there is no guarantee your competitors will.

 

[knotty]

@rektbyfaith I raise my prices every year regardless due to inflation. Every 2 years at the most for PITA customers but ends up amounting to around the same rate.

 

[knotty]

@rektbyfaith I'm already one of the higher small businesses in my area and I usually either raise 3-5% a year or 5-10% every 2 years to compensate for inflation. Used to do it every 5 years but would get complaints. Once that $15/hr hits I will compensate for it at the beginning of next year when everyone renews PO's and we re-quote.

Hard to explain but I have variable pricing where everyone gets the same shit but at a different cost. So something I sell to company A for $500, I sell to Company B for $1500 and my cost is ~$100 + gas of sending a truck there. Its a pain in the ass to crank the prices so I just wait til the beginning of the year.

 

[stephendoxey]

@rektbyfaith Because he is a shitty CEO? Or he is competing with pricing from other businesses who are not currently paying their employees $15 per hour.

 

[613jono]

@rektbyfaith Because he's a shitty CEO

 

[joycemaranon]

@orlando_wcbc Small businesses would just have to increase prices to compensate. There’s no other way around it.

 

[naturewalk]

@joycemaranon Well there's always going out of business.

 

[613jono]

@naturewalk That's usually the most popular option most advocates are for.

"If you can't pay you're employees a living wage you shouldn't exist"

 

[naturewalk]

@613jono TBH my comment was more of a joke than anything. theres actually a ton of other options out there. There's automation. Cutting back on staff. Reorganizing so you use a couple higher skilled non minimum wage workers (usually involves some automation). Etc.

 

[613jono]

@naturewalk That’s basically what shouldn’t exist causes.

The old companies fail and new ones come in that can do the same work with less people.

 

[mymichelle21]

@joycemaranon Our business pays 15$/hr for receptionist, I imagine it would need to be ~20$/hr to be competitive.

So, automated phone system it is.

 

[613jono]

@orlando_wcbc I told my few employees that we don't make nearly enough to double their pay. I ran my retail business myself 7 days a week from open to close for 2 years and I can do it again, but will probably just close and focus on my real estate holdings. My profit margins are basically non-existent anyway due to Amazon and Walmart.

 

[pkeck]

@613jono

My profit margins are basically non-existent anyway due to Amazon and Walmart.

the real injustice

 

[hallel]

@orlando_wcbc I'm Canada - when minimum wage was under $11 I was paying $14-15 to start. Minimum wage jumped to $14 - I can still only pay $15 to start. Some employees are $17-19 range.

Employees did mention that it was "only" $2 per hour - but it's not - business have to consider the overall payroll costs - taxes, co-pays, increased vacation payout, insurance related to payroll dollars. PLUS all the rising costs because all my suppliers increased costs by 10-20% overnight to cover the increase in payroll budgets.

So - a mandatory significant minimum wage increase was not good for my business, who was already paying a living wage.

It was not good for the child care centers that my employees pay to care for their children - because daycare costs went up 20% overnight and there was a gap before daycare subsidy was corrected for those who qualify for it. It was not good for the food budgets, since all the grocery stores increased prices etc etc etc. Trickle down effect of rising costs that didn't actually put extra money in the pockets of the minimum wage earners. My salary decreased significantly to compensate with the rise in the cost of business, which lead to a less profitable year.

My staff received a 2% increase, and we gave a few employees an extra few days of vacation, I decided not to fill any part time positions with students - if it's going to cost $14 to push a broom I might as well have an adult do it so I don't have to babysit them.

Edited to add - in my area the other economic impact WAS not so much job loss but a reduction in payroll hours. Grocery stores/hardware stores/movie theater installed self checkout and almost forces patrons to use self checkout, less bodies on the sales floor/behind the counter at grocery stores/fast food places, a shift from having employees run day to day and the owners being more involved to reduce payroll dollars. The movie theatre did try to claim that there was no change to the number of staff after wage increase - but - the number of people they have working is dramatically different since automation and we all wait in line a little longer. no big deal, it's not live organ transplant operations so everyone can relax a little.

 

[melissac]

@orlando_wcbc My service related business is in an area where minimum wage has grown from 7.25 to 12.50 and by 2022 will be 15/hr. We've already cut roughly 10 jobs from ~30 to ~20 and trimmed down hours so that everyone is doing far more work than before. Good news is that it helped me streamline things really well because I had no choice. Once wages hit 15/hr everyone will "have to be a manager" and automation will have to reduce jobs, which thankfully in my field is already being worked on. Side effect for workers, is that a sizable segment of the population that works these types of jobs will effectively become unemployable because they won't be able to provide 15/hr in value anywhere.

 

[mae9]

@orlando_wcbc The problem with the $15/hr wage discussion is exactly what you highlighted... that it is being presented as a federal mandate when it only works for a few states and counties.

It's the same problem I have with all National Average discussions, like Teacher Pay, it is an extremely disingenuous representation of the issue, and will lead to feel-good measures that will do more harm than good. Be weary of these "equality" topics, as they like to cloak these real issues in compassion, but it is misguided and a ruse.

This is why the Electoral College and State Sovereignty discussion are so critical.