Walmart raising wages to 13.63/hr would cost them...

[ConfusedDolphin]

Yuppppp laws and regulations are actually hindering small competitors that could potentially compete with big companies. 

 

That's right, the amount of laws regarding how a business hires people makes it not only expensive but legally dangerous for any business big or small to take on employees. 

[Fred Castellum]

That's right, the amount of laws regarding how a business hires people makes it not only expensive but legally dangerous for any business big or small to take on employees. 

And yet the citizens are still demanding more job benefits.... higher wages and employee benefits... so many voting citizens are just straight up sheep... 

 

People don't do research.... 

[ConfusedDolphin]

And yet the citizens are still demanding more job benefits.... higher wages and employee benefits... so many voting citizens are just straight up sheep... 

 

People don't do research.... 

It sounds brutal to say but if employer liability became a benefit in a contract instead of something forced by the government, smaller business could afford to employ more people but with more risk on the part of the employee. How well a company treats it's staff should be a competitive advantage, not mandated by the government... imo 

[FireFox]

It is nice to see wages increasing by a decent amount, here in the UK the NMW was £6.19 and increased by a damn pathetic 12p to £6.31. Sometime this year it is set to rise again by another 10p or so.

 

THANK YOU SO MUCH UK, you are a damn treat, do you know this.

[Champion-Craig]

Minimum wage is going up in Ontario in June. very excited for this. Student minimum wage is going from 9.60 to 10.30, and Adult minimum wage is going up to 11.00 from 10.25. Good to see the government here is standing up! 

Can't wait for the Student wage increase! Just in time for summer employment.

[Poohy14]

I personally dont agree with raising wages. First, It will make the cost of living go up and everything will be more expensive. Second, people who worked for a college education should get higher pay compared to people who don't go to college which they should get lower pay but here in Ohio its backwards in a lot of places. They are trying to raise the minimum wages here to $15 an hour which would put a lot of local business out of business and people would lose jobs. people who work at McDonalds would get that and that is as much as a starting pay for Electrical Engineer which is $15-20 for starting out that had 4 years of college compared to someone who didn't want to go to college. I really would hate to see minimum wage go up. Everyone has there own opinions on it and here is mine so if you dont like it then its not my problem you dont everyone has different views about it so dont get butt hurt over it.

[FireFox]

The minimum wage should be abolished.

 

If you want to get paid more, make yourself worth more.  If all you can do is stock shelves and punch numbers on a register then you are expendable.

 

I understand where you're coming from but I don't agree with that, I can only speak for the UK but here if we had no NMW then the companies could basically fuck us over, they would probably give us something like £3 per hour (I am not kidding, they'd give you nothing if they could get away with it). I think the NMW is a good thing but if you want more then yes I do agree with what you said about making yourself worth more.

[Mooshi]

People seem to be forgetting the bigger picture. When you're a stingy fuck and don't pay your employees a decent living wage, said employee is more likely to use government assist programs to make up the difference. No, this isn't for "lazy" people. Many men and women are backed into the corner to use these services when they lose hours or their job - some taking whatever job is open to scrape by whenever their previous job let them down with terminations. If employees were giving higher minimum wage, they would have less incentive to use government assistance programs. This leaves more money for the state to reinvest in, let's say, infrastructure that'd not only benefit the community, but also create more jobs. Something like fiber internet, happier citizens, more jobs and less government dependency, wow!

 

Imagine that. Being paid a fair wage having a positive effect for everyone who isn't Scrooge Mcduck. I'm not going to lose any sleep because some CEO has to "settle" on a 80 grand Merc instead of wanting the 250k Lambo. Especially when some people have trouble scraping together fucking bus fair on top of balancing bills.

[MellowCream]

 

9 Reasons Why Raising the Minimum Wage Is a Terrible Idea

1. It’s a big country. The costs of living, especially housing, vary widely in America from state to state and city to city. If the point of raising the minimum wage is to provide a “living wage,” why should the minimum wage in low-cost areas such as Texas or Oklahoma be the same as in high-cost areas such as San Francisco or Manhattan?

 

2. The states are already taking care of it. Twenty states and the District of Columbia already have minimum wages higher than the current federal minimum of $7.25 an hour.

 

3. Private industry and the free market are already taking care of it. Even low-skill, entry level positions in many areas already pay higher than minimum wage.

 

4. As an anti-poverty tool, it is a blunt instrument. A post by David Henderson cited by the chairman of the Harvard Economics Department, Greg Mankiw, points out that a lot of minimum wage earners are second or third-job holders in households with other income. That could include a teenage summer employee whose parents both have jobs. Other minimum wage workers may include retirees with income from savings and Social Security who own their homes mortgage-free.

 

5. It’s not clear that it’s constitutional. The Supreme Court, in its opinion in the 1923 case Adkins v. Children’s Hospital of District of Columbia, made a strong argument that a minimum wage was a violation of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of contract embedded in the Fifth Amendment’s language about due process and the deprivation of liberty and property: “To the extent that the sum fixed exceeds the fair value of the services rendered, it amounts to a compulsory exaction from the employer for the support of a partially indigent person, for whose condition there rests upon him no peculiar responsibility, and therefore, in effect, arbitrarily shifts to his shoulders a burden which, if it belongs to anybody, belongs to society as a whole.” The Court later, in the 1937 case West Coast Hotel v. Parrish, reversed Adkins by a five to four margin. But maybe the court was right the first time around.

 

6. Even if the freedom of contract isn’t protected by the Constitution, it’s a natural right that should not be infringed. As President Kennedy put it in his inaugural address, “the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.” If two free people want to enter into a voluntary, consensual agreement that doesn’t infringe on anyone else’s rights, why should the government stop them? If someone wants to work for $5 an hour, and someone wants to hire that person for that much, and no one is forcing either one of them to enter into the agreement, by what authority does government step in and stop them?

 

7. It would eliminate jobs. Ordering businesses to pay entry-level workers more will make them hire fewer of them, and consider replacing more workers with robots or computers. That’s good if you are in the robot or computer business, but not so good if you are trying to combat unemployment. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that President Obama’s proposed $10.10 wage, once fully implemented, “would reduce total employment by about 500,000 workers.”

 

8. It would reduce the incentive for low-wage workers to get an education and move up to a higher-paying job. The lower the minimum wage, the more eager a minimum wage worker would be to enroll in a community college course at night, improve his or her skills, and apply for a higher-paying job. Making the entry-level jobs higher paying increases the risk that workers will get stuck in them for longer instead of moving on to something more rewarding.

 

9. It’s a sneaky way to increase welfare spending and raise taxes. Raising taxes to spend more on welfare is a political loser. But raising the minimum wage puts money in the pockets of working poor people, at the expense of business owners (and of consumers who would pay in the form of higher prices). If politicians want to increase the earned income tax credit or other work-related welfare benefits, they should do the hard work of building political support for such policies, rather than choosing the roundabout approach of a minimum wage increase.

[Avratz]

I understand where you're coming from but I don't agree with that, I can only speak for the UK but here if we had no NMW then the companies could basically fuck us over, they would probably give us something like £3 per hour (I am not kidding, they'd give you nothing if they could get away with it). I think the NMW is a good thing but if you want more then yes I do agree with what you said about making yourself worth more.

 

If you are expendable, then you will get paid expendable wages. Not to say there aren't poorly run businesses, but you can't legislate assholes out of existence.

 

Now let's imagine a glorious workers paradise with a $25/hr minimum wage. In one case, the dollar could be next to worthless, and the actual value of wages hasn't increased much or at all(runaway inflation). On the other hand, if its an arbitrarily mandated increase, it could simply cause businesses to jettison workforce, and seek more financially efficient means. More automation, etc.

 

The focus on huge corporations like Wal Mart is fun and all, but what about small shops? They may hire 3 people. You double wages, and you probably just legislated someone out of a job. Hell, they may not even be able to stay afloat.

 

Not everyone is worth minimum wage. They instantly get priced out of the job market, and why shouldn't the job market function like any other?

 

A company that pays well will generally have a better employee retention rate, and, most likely, better employees. 

 

If you believe you are worth more than £3, then don't settle for it. Of course, this requires determination and initiative.

[Biased Opinion]

the fact that i actually get paid a decent amount compared to other countries is one of the only things that i like about Aus, other than that I really hate most things.

[Biased Opinion]

Eh we need people to work easy unskilled jobs, and there's no reason they don't deserve to be able to support themselves.

I'm sorry but what kind of fucked up logic is this. Even if the job is unskilled that does not mean that if you work full time you should at least earn enough to live. Not having a living minimum wage is a great way to further increase the disparity between income brackets and keep poor people poor.

[jmaster299]

To increase prices by 1.4%.  So basically they could probably eat the cost and people could actually make a livable wage?  You could put 2 parents working at Walmart and effectively make about 50-60k/year which is enough to raise a family.  An interesting study was done a few months ago and wages have no scaled with inflation.

 

1974 costs/wages

Big Mac: $0.40

Gas/Gal: $0.40-0.50

Milk/Gal: $0.30

1974 Camaro (Base): $2,900

4 bedroom house: $35,000

Min wage: $2/hr

Entry level positions: $10-12k/year

 

2014 costs/wages

Big Mac: $4.00

Gas/Gal: $4.00

Milk/Gal: $3.25

1974 Camaro (Base): $26,000

4 bedroom house: $220,000

Min wage: $7.25/hr

Entry level positions: $30-36k/year

 

So while everything has gone up between 6 to 10 times in costs, min wage has increased by 3.5 times and entry level positions only pay 2.5 times more. Most college graduates including myself are only getting 36k/year starting.  And I have 2 degree's 2 years of management experience and have worked since age 14.  How have companies afforded to raise prices by so much but cannot afford fair wages?  Guess what, they can afford it but choose not to!

Source: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/04/11/3425609/walmart-prices-food-stamps/

I see you are a victim of common core and are incapable of handling basic math.

There are no numbers available to break down what employees are only making minimum wage, so we can only estimate cost increases based on averages. The average walmart employee makes $11.75/hr and works 30hrs/wk. With 1.4 million employees in the US, that amounts $25,662,000,000 in yearly wages. Lets look at the difference if the average wage was raised to the $13.63 that the OP is talking about. Now, keep in mind that the increase in costs would be much, much larger since the majority of employees are actually making much less then that $11.75 average. But just working with an average wage, the cost increase is huge.

So, at $13.63, that is an increase of $1.88 per hour, multiply that by 30 hours per week, times 52 weeks, times 1,400,000 employees, and you get an increase of $4,105,920,000. Now, Walmart did have $17 billion in profits in $2013, but raising just the average wage by $1.88, which again is a much smaller increase than raising the minimum wage, would eliminate nearly 25% of that profit. No company will stay in business if you eliminate nearly 25% of their profit. People will lose their jobs, prices will go up, fewer people will do business with company because of higher prices, more people lose their jobs, shareholders dump their stock like it's infectious disease, and the company folds.

Try getting your numbers from some place that doesn't have the word "progress" in it's name. Agendas like "Progress" and "Forward" are communist terms. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO EARN A LIVING WAGE FROM ANY NO-SKILL ENTRY LEVEL JOB. If you want a living wage, obtain the skill and/or education to deserve one.

[Yoinkerman]

I don't know what you're trying to say.  I'm saying even the slovenliest job is needed and should let someone provide for themselves.

 

I'm all for people doing what they can to help their bottom line.  It's not really a free market if only companies can do this.  Why can't regular laypeople?

 

I'm sorry but what kind of fucked up logic is this. Even if the job is unskilled that does not mean that if you work full time you should at least earn enough to live. Not having a living minimum wage is a great way to further increase the disparity between income brackets and keep poor people poor.

[Biased Opinion]

I don't know what you're trying to say.  I'm saying even the slovenliest job is needed and should let someone provide for themselves.

 

I'm all for people doing what they can to help their bottom line.  It's not really a free market if only companies can do this.  Why can't regular laypeople?

Sorry about that, i completely misread your post. Disregard what i said.

[Lord Pantaloons]

As someone who tried to live on my own on minimum wage I can attest to the fact that minimum wage is laughably inadequate. I was working 16hr shifts 6 days a week and I still could hardly make ends meet, between rent, utilities, food, petrol, car insurance I had hardly anything left over and I nearly killed myself doing it. After six months I collapsed and slept for 70 hours, I was reported missing and police kicked down the door of my apartment looking for me. I woke up in a hospital hooked up to IV's and all sorts of shit.

[jmaster299]

As someone who tried to live on my own on minimum wage I can attest to the fact that minimum wage is laughably inadequate. I was working 16hr shifts 6 days a week and I still could hardly make ends meet, between rent, utilities, food, petrol, car insurance I had hardly anything left over and I nearly killed myself doing it. After six months I collapsed and slept for 70 hours, I was reported missing and police kicked down the door of my apartment looking for me. I woke up in a hospital hooked up to IV's and all sorts of shit.

But that's not your employer's fault. You are 100% responsible to ensure you possess the skills and/or education to deserve a better than minimum wage job. Also, no one forced you to take that job or work those hours.

[marioo1182]

meanwhile in Switzerland we're voting for 25$/h...

I should move to Switzerland, I'm a citizen! here in Canada though at $11/h

[Joshua Ondangan]

a 10.30$ per hour? that's a kick ass salary. so if let's say you work for 30 days 10 hours a day that would be. 

 

 

10.30$ * 10 hours = 103$ per day * let's say 30 days = 3090$

 

converting it to my countries currency. 134893.95PHP that's almost double of what I make a month on my main job.

 

hot damn you guys got all the tax and all but we got them too. must be nice living there.

 

although you guys didn't get the food cost since it's a bit cheaper here and soooooo much SMALLER!

 

 

unless I got the calculations wrong or it's 10.30$ per day (most people's salary here is less than 310$ us converted a day).

[Jogostar]

I should move to Switzerland, I'm a citizen! here in Canada though at $11/h

it didn't get accepted.

70% were against the 25$/h wage.

[JustTooDank]

a 10.30$ per hour? that's a kick ass salary. so if let's say you work for 30 days 10 hours a day that would be. 

 

 

10.30$ * 10 hours = 103$ per day * let's say 30 days = 3090$

 

converting it to my countries currency. 134893.95PHP that's almost double of what I make a month on my main job.

 

hot damn you guys got all the tax and all but we got them too. must be nice living there.

 

although you guys didn't get the food cost since it's a bit cheaper here and soooooo much SMALLER!

 

 

unless I got the calculations wrong or it's 10.30$ per day (most people's salary here is less than 310$ us converted a day).

The average work schedule in the US is 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, not everyday for 10 hours.

[Joshua Ondangan]

The average work schedule in the US is 8 hours per day, 5 days per week, not everyday for 10 hours.

lol you guys even got it better .

 

so 10.30$ * 8 = 82.4$ * (let's say 22 days) = 1812.8$

 

converting to Philippine Peso = 79137.78PHP per month and if this is the salary in walmart I'd gladly work there. I mean those dudes makes almost the same with my cad job which I do take home or go overtime without pay). and I work 10 hours a day. 6 days a week. hot damn wish I live there.

[JustTooDank]

lol you guys even got it better .

 

so 10.30$ * 8 = 82.4$ * (let's say 22 days) = 1812.8$

 

converting to Philippine Peso = 79137.78PHP per month and if this is the salary in walmart I'd gladly work there. I mean those dudes makes almost the same with my cad job which I do take home or go overtime without pay). and I work 10 hours a day. 6 days a week. hot damn wish I live there.

You can't just look at raw numbers, you have to factor in cost of living and whatnot. How much is a gallon of gasoline there?

[Joshua Ondangan]

You can't just look at raw numbers, you have to factor in cost of living and whatnot. How much is a gallon of gasoline there?

No worries about gasoline it's about 2.80$ per litre . (1$ = 44PHP) (forgot if this price is gas or diesel since diesel tends to me cheaper).

renting a house range from 3,000php to 6,000php (very small house 40sq-50sq with garden and 1 floor) per month depending on locations. the smaller an dirtier it looks the cheaper it is.

renting a bed space (sometimes 3-5 people in 1 room) range from 800php-1500php for the ones I see around the dirtier it is the cheaper.

I've been to new jersey before a burger there is like 4 burgers stacked here in the philippines (something like mcdonalds or something). although I only visited my god father there that place is awesome so I don't know much .

french fries are small they give you tissue .

on home made food mini dine. a 55php or 60php normally can get you a really small cup of rice + a single hotdog with a single egg and yes both are small too.

a tank of gas for cooking cost me 1500php per tank and it's kinda small.

monthly net bills is 569$, electricity range from 295$ to 534$ (converted). 

(well I own my house so there is no problem with shelter) 

 

actually I might like working at walmart >.< like grab my self a decent mid range pc, rent a cheap apartment, eat 3x a day and send the rest to my family. (have to make them stop using a lot of electricity sadly).

 

yep we got this stupid tax too. (wish it was the same with U.A.E no tax I used to live there when I was 6 years old to 18 year old).

 

only best thing here in the Philippines is the bus fare 2$ can take you really really far. well going to province anyway around 1-4 hours at least anything longer requires around 10$ to 20$).

[Lord Pantaloons]

But that's not your employer's fault. You are 100% responsible to ensure you possess the skills and/or education to deserve a better than minimum wage job. Also, no one forced you to take that job or work those hours.

The job I had(security guard) was the only job I was able to find that wasn't part time that was willing to hire me without some kind of prior experience. EVERY other job I applied for that was full time wanted me to have 2-4 years prior experience but this was my first job. I didn't want to work part time at a fast food restaurant only to have to work another job to try and make ends meet. I searched for THREE YEARS and was unable to find anything and while it is true that no one forced me to take the hours I was still FORCED to take those hours because working normal hours I couldn't afford to live on my own. I had an average of $30 left at the end of the month after paying all my expenses that's right $30 and I had to work myself to death to do it, with the way you said what you said and if you're actually 32 like your profile says that leads me to believe that you've had a stable job and haven't actually had to look for one for some time now.