The federal minimum wage rose this week. Rising 70 cents from $5.15 to $5.85. Unless you were buried under a rook this is probably not news. It may surprise some that over the years that I have come to be a part of the 70% of Americans who are proponents of the minimum wage. Originally I was opposed to it, as someone who could argue both sides of this issue.
However, there is something more important to me then the federal minimum wage. That is the state minimum wage, especially in my home state of Kansas. So, here is the weigh down on the minimum wage in Kansas.
According to the Department of Labor, 30 states (and the Virgin Islands) have a minimum wage higher then the Federal requirements. At the same time 10 states, Puerto Rico and Guam have minimum wages that are equal to the Federal rules. Four other states have a minimum wage that is $5.15, with some of those (New Mexico) planning to raise the minimum wage in January 2008. However, Kansas is the only state, yes, the only state, which has a minimum wage that doesn't even match the former Federal minimum wage. What does that mean? If you work for a company that is exempt from Federal minimum wage rules or are a waiter/waitress at a restaurant then you will only make $2.65 an hour.
At least the wait staff makes tips and can do better then that. Other companies, the people making those wages tend to be people working for what is called a "training wage," (although I don't know to many places that actually use this). I believe that the state of Kansas should set their minimum wage to at least the $5.15 and preferably with the Federal minimum wage.
Of course, no one can live on those low of wages, but that is intended to be for people who have no experience. In a perfect world, a company would reward their employees with pay raises. However, I live in the real world, and I have seen to many companies that make the claim they can't afford to give their employees raises. I have seen employees on a whole go two years without a single pay raise.
All to often, I have seen companies become more greedy and give fewer and fewer raises. Likewise, when the minimum wage raises, these same companies do not raise the wages of those making more then the minimum wage. Again, in a perfect world, every one's wages would be tied to that minimum wage and would raise when when the minimum goes higher, but this is the real world and it does not happen.
Overall, I am actually reluctant, to raise the minimum rage on the Federal level, but when you have companies like these, I don't know what else to do.
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I wholeheartedly disagree with you on this one. I believe that we should do away with the minimum wage completely. The reason is that it is simply not the governments business what I pay my employees.
ReplyDeleteImagine that you were to go start your own business. Say, for example, painting the addresses on the curbs for people at ten bucks a pop. And then imagine again that this business was so successful in your area that you couldn't do all of the work that you were able to arrange. So you go down to the college and post an ad for a student to make some extra money helping you out.
Do you realize that if you wanted to do it completely legally and legit, by the time you took out for Federal and State taxes, FICA withholding, OSHA compliance, and then paying minimum wage on top of that, you couldn't stay afloat?
The costs of doing business are out of this world. I've started little businesses like that before, and the costs to comply with every little law makes it impossible to do. You have to do it "under the table" or you can't afford it.
I say if a guy wants to paint some numbers and another guy wants to pay him, why should the government have a right to say anything about it at all.
And if you want to have a non-profit organization, you are even worse off. If you want to go online to raise money for a good cause and not even make any money off of it, it would cost well over ten thousand dollars to remain compliant with the laws.
what else to do? go find another job. It's the open market.
ReplyDeleteDITTO to jagular's comments! It is unfair for the government to force a company to pay an employee an arbitrary amount (minimun wage) when they are not worth that much in their labor output. That is so unjust. If the hiree can produce $5.85 of products or services, then that would be a good deal for the employer. If the hiree is lazy and not productive and they only produce $4.00 of product (the employer loses $1.85/hr), then the minimum wage becomes robbery. That is my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteI believe minimum wage laws hurt the very people they are meant to help and in practice "help" very few people.
ReplyDeleteI will be the first to agree that no one can "live" on minimum wage- nor should they. Those who propose a so-called "living wage" ( like John Edwards' $9.50) are living in some other universe. Some jobs are simply meant to be low-skill, low-wage, transitional, etc.
I have sympathy for the working-poor. I have been one most of my life ( though I never stop going to school, start businesses, work multple jobs and overtime,etc- so i wont remain poor). However, it just doesn't pay to be complacent.
At some point it's a CHOICE. Like, I think you posted before that you like your job and could plan to retire there. At the same time you admit you dont make enough money to stay out of debt. At some point, when you make choices like that, no one should have sympathy. If you want to live at a certain level ( even just "average" middle class), you have to do what it takes to get there.
The same applies to minimum wage workers. I don't see most people staying at a minimum wage job long. They either get promoted and/or get raises or use it as a stepping stone to something better, learn new skills or education,etc. People who do get stuck in low wages long term either: are not good/reliable workers, show up late or not at all, get fired and bounce from one crap job to another,etc or Just Don't Care. If you care about and value your own life you wouldnt just toil in minimum wage jobs.
Interesting point about Kansas minimum wage. For what its' worth, the tipped employee minimum is half minimum wage or lower in many states. Many states pay servers 2something an hour. In many places the servers more than make up for it. I used to be a cook (BTW, I actualy started at minimum wage but got raises to over $10/hr plus overtime and could work unlimited shifts and hours) and EVERYONE wanted to be a server. While I was making $10 an hour to work 7-8 hours, some of them were making $200-300 a shift ( and working doubles).
So it's normal to pay very little to servers, and it's good business.
As far as other people making only $2.65, I wonder about that. just because it's the law, does it actualy happpen? How many places do you know of paying under $5.15? What do McDonalds, Wal-Mart, target, etc pay in your area ( those are pretty much the wage bottoms anywhere I have lived)?