Minimum Wage Hike coming July 24th

[dbackjon]

Federal wage floor will rise to $7.25 an hour on July 24. Hike will be felt in 29 states. Can the job market handle it?

The federal minimum wage is set to increase later this month as the job market shows signs of further decay.

The federal minimum wage will go to $7.25 an hour on July 24 from its current level of $6.55, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The impact will be felt in 29 states, and many of them plan to match the federal minimum when it goes through.

Seven states already have laws mandating $7.25 minimum pay, while 14 states and Washington, D.C., exceed the new minimum. Employers are required to pay whichever is the highest: Federal or state.


http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/ar ... egotiation

[Wedgebuster]

Oh my, is there room in the old middle class for all these soon to be middle class earners?

[danefan]

Oh my, is there room in the old middle class for all these soon to be middle class earners?

I can't tell if your joking, but $7.25 is nowhere near middle class. $7.25 is barely over the poverty line.

[Wedgebuster]

Oh my, is there room in the old middle class for all these soon to be middle class earners?

I can't tell if your joking, but $7.25 is nowhere near middle class. $7.25 is barely over the poverty line.

This would have been your proper response-

[danefan]

I can't tell if your joking, but $7.25 is nowhere near middle class. $7.25 is barely over the poverty line.

This would have been your proper response-

[BDKJMU]

So what if businesses only have X revenue coming in to cover expenses including payroll for these mostly teenage & minimum wage earners? They will have to pay not only the higer wages but the higher corresonding payroll taxes, unemployment, liability, bennies, etc that comes along with it. How do they come up with the increased revenue?

[JMU DJ]

My fiance is already hearing her employees complain... one came into her office to address the "concerns" of the rest of the employees. They felt that if others in the store were going to be receiving a $0.70 raise that everyone else should to. Every single employee there makes above $7.25 right now anyway and she explained that to the employee. She also explained that her company hires significantly above minimum wage and above competitors wages, so that if they felt they could do better elsewhere then they should try ... The employee then replied with the phrase "Feel like I'm getting jew'd here"


.... It's ok (I guess), the employee is half a heeb.

[JMU DJ]

So what if businesses only have X revenue coming in to cover expenses including payroll for these mostly teenage & minimum wage earners? They will have to pay not only the higer wages but the higher corresonding payroll taxes, unemployment, liability, bennies, etc that comes along with it. How do they come up with the increased revenue?

Cut hours... My ladies store just cut out 120 hours per week... employees aren't happy, but it's what the higher ups called for.

[dbackjon]

So what if businesses only have X revenue coming in to cover expenses including payroll for these mostly teenage & minimum wage earners? They will have to pay not only the higer wages but the higher corresonding payroll taxes, unemployment, liability, bennies, etc that comes along with it. How do they come up with the increased revenue?

Some will make it, some will get leaner, some may benefit from the increased spending that other minimum wage earners now.

Really need to know how many people actually make the minimum wage. In my 35,000 plus company, no one makes less than $10/hour, most make far more.

[Wedgebuster]

If I can't pay ten bucks an hour, I don't need help very bad. Going back on what Dane said about poverty level, actually I believe you have to make over $11.00 an hour to breach the poverty level these days.

Pretty grim unless somebody else is providing housing, transportation, etc.

[Ibanez]

My fiance is already hearing her employees complain... one came into her office to address the "concerns" of the rest of the employees. They felt that if others in the store were going to be receiving a $0.70 raise that everyone else should to. Every single employee there makes above $7.25 right now anyway and she explained that to the employee. She also explained that her company hires significantly above minimum wage and above competitors wages, so that if they felt they could do better elsewhere then they should try ... The employee then replied with the phrase "Feel like I'm getting jew'd here"


.... It's ok (I guess), the employee is half a heeb.

I believe you Jews are ruining this country and being greedy.

[BDKJMU]

If I can't pay ten bucks an hour, I don't need help very bad. Going back on what Dane said about poverty level, actually I believe you have to make over $11.00 an hour to breach the poverty level these days.
Pretty grim unless somebody else is providing housing, transportation, etc.

$11 an hr would over 40 weeks, 52 weeks a yr would = $22,800, about the 09' fed poverty level for a family of 4 which is $22,050.
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/09poverty.shtml

I'm too lazy to look it up, but I remember hearing/reading during the debate about rasing the minimum wage 2 1/2 years ago in early 07' (when it was still $5.15) that something like 97% made more than the federal minimum wage, and the vast majority who did make the minimum were teenagers working their 1st job(s). Heck, I bet most illegals make well over the minimum wage. I don't have a problem with teens or college students living at home with mommy and daddy making $5, $6, or $7 an hr. Even if there was no minimum wage, I bet 99=+% of non tip jobs would make more than $5. One reason why I think the states should be able to set their own minimum wages, or even not have one if they didn't want to.

[BDKJMU]

So what if businesses only have X revenue coming in to cover expenses including payroll for these mostly teenage & minimum wage earners? They will have to pay not only the higer wages but the higher corresonding payroll taxes, unemployment, liability, bennies, etc that comes along with it. How do they come up with the increased revenue?

Cut hours... My ladies store just cut out 120 hours per week... employees aren't happy, but it's what the higher ups called for.

I'll answer my earlier question. The employer will have 3 options:
1. Raise prices (which can hurt sales/cause you to lose customers)
2. Lay of employees
3. Cut back hrs

Or a combination of all 3. Certainly won't be very good for the economy.

[hank scorpio]

Minimum-Wage Hike Celebrated With Name-Brand Ketchup

WASHINGTON, DC—Two weeks after the hourly federal minimum wage was raised from $5.15 to $5.85, families across the country were still celebrating the historic increase by running their electric fans, buying coveted half-gallons of milk, and, like Charice Williams of Shreveport, LA, purchasing name-brand ketchup to share with loved ones.

"I can't remember the last time I could afford Hunt's," said the 41-year-old mother of six, who for more than a decade has purchased ValuTime ketchup to garnish everything from Hamburger Helper to Tuna Helper. "Another couple dozen wage increases like this, and we'll be practically swimming in Heinz. Or at least my grandchildren will."

Whether buying national-brand condiments, allowing themselves two additional squares of toilet paper, or paying for a few more minutes of drying time at the laundromat, the estimated 13 million Americans who subsist on minimum wages are getting a taste of the good life. Jaime Santiago of Las Cruces, NM was working a double shift at a 24-hour car wash Tuesday night, but still managed to celebrate by calling home collect during his break—and, for the first time in years, his wife was able to accept the charges.

"I told her I had a surprise for the family when I got home, and I wasn't kidding: chewable vitamins for the kids," said Santiago, 29. "On Sunday, I'm going to surprise them again with a nice bus ride out to Wal-Mart to walk around a little. Then I'm going to pull back for a while. Indulgences like these are all the more special when they're just occasional."

Many minimum-wage earners, like 38-year-old Greg Hubbard, said the increase—the first of its kind since 1997—provides a sense of security at a time when the price of gas, housing, consumer goods, food, utilities, and health insurance premiums are at their highest levels in decades.

"To think that only 10 years ago my salary was jacked up to $5.15 an hour, and now, in 2007, I'm making almost $6 an hour," said Hubbard, who runs the sluicer at the Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Corydon, IN. "Only in America."

In Utica, NY, hotel maid Ernestine Caldwell has constantly worried about her husband's medical expenses since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier this year and forced to quit his job. But now that she'll be earning nearly $12,000 a year, Caldwell, 62, said she'll be able to pay off 1/64th of his medical expenses and finally start planning for her retirement by investing in higher-yield scratch-ticket games offered by the New York Lottery.

"For years, I've had to play 'Loose Change' or 'Straight 8's' while the $20 'Win for Life Spectacular' game has been out of reach," Caldwell said. "With this added income, though, I'll really be able to take advantage of all 15 ways to win. My husband deserves the best possible care."

Congressional Democrats who pushed for the increase said the additional $28 a week will come as a "godsend" to those living below the poverty line and provide new lines of tax revenue that could perhaps one day help pay off the resurgent federal deficit.

"Today, the nation's working poor are 70 cents closer to the American dream," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a Capitol press conference. "And don't forget the economic stimulus this wage increase will provide— already we hear that discount stores nationwide are selling out their stocks of flip-flops and the stiffer kind of paper plates."

Yet Pelosi urged minimum-wage earners to be cautious in spending their windfall, as a raise of this magnitude only comes "once in a lifetime."

[Wedgebuster]

Minimum-Wage Hike Celebrated With Name-Brand Ketchup

WASHINGTON, DC—Two weeks after the hourly federal minimum wage was raised from $5.15 to $5.85, families across the country were still celebrating the historic increase by running their electric fans, buying coveted half-gallons of milk, and, like Charice Williams of Shreveport, LA, purchasing name-brand ketchup to share with loved ones.

"I can't remember the last time I could afford Hunt's," said the 41-year-old mother of six, who for more than a decade has purchased ValuTime ketchup to garnish everything from Hamburger Helper to Tuna Helper. "Another couple dozen wage increases like this, and we'll be practically swimming in Heinz. Or at least my grandchildren will."

Whether buying national-brand condiments, allowing themselves two additional squares of toilet paper, or paying for a few more minutes of drying time at the laundromat, the estimated 13 million Americans who subsist on minimum wages are getting a taste of the good life. Jaime Santiago of Las Cruces, NM was working a double shift at a 24-hour car wash Tuesday night, but still managed to celebrate by calling home collect during his break—and, for the first time in years, his wife was able to accept the charges.

"I told her I had a surprise for the family when I got home, and I wasn't kidding: chewable vitamins for the kids," said Santiago, 29. "On Sunday, I'm going to surprise them again with a nice bus ride out to Wal-Mart to walk around a little. Then I'm going to pull back for a while. Indulgences like these are all the more special when they're just occasional."

Many minimum-wage earners, like 38-year-old Greg Hubbard, said the increase—the first of its kind since 1997—provides a sense of security at a time when the price of gas, housing, consumer goods, food, utilities, and health insurance premiums are at their highest levels in decades.

"To think that only 10 years ago my salary was jacked up to $5.15 an hour, and now, in 2007, I'm making almost $6 an hour," said Hubbard, who runs the sluicer at the Tyson Foods chicken processing plant in Corydon, IN. "Only in America."

In Utica, NY, hotel maid Ernestine Caldwell has constantly worried about her husband's medical expenses since he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier this year and forced to quit his job. But now that she'll be earning nearly $12,000 a year, Caldwell, 62, said she'll be able to pay off 1/64th of his medical expenses and finally start planning for her retirement by investing in higher-yield scratch-ticket games offered by the New York Lottery.

"For years, I've had to play 'Loose Change' or 'Straight 8's' while the $20 'Win for Life Spectacular' game has been out of reach," Caldwell said. "With this added income, though, I'll really be able to take advantage of all 15 ways to win. My husband deserves the best possible care."

Congressional Democrats who pushed for the increase said the additional $28 a week will come as a "godsend" to those living below the poverty line and provide new lines of tax revenue that could perhaps one day help pay off the resurgent federal deficit.

"Today, the nation's working poor are 70 cents closer to the American dream," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at a Capitol press conference. "And don't forget the economic stimulus this wage increase will provide— already we hear that discount stores nationwide are selling out their stocks of flip-flops and the stiffer kind of paper plates."

Yet Pelosi urged minimum-wage earners to be cautious in spending their windfall, as a raise of this magnitude only comes "once in a lifetime."

I smell Onions.

[UNHWildCats]

So what if businesses only have X revenue coming in to cover expenses including payroll for these mostly teenage & minimum wage earners? They will have to pay not only the higer wages but the higher corresonding payroll taxes, unemployment, liability, bennies, etc that comes along with it. How do they come up with the increased revenue?

Some will make it, some will get leaner, some may benefit from the increased spending that other minimum wage earners now.

Really need to know how many people actually make the minimum wage. In my 35,000 plus company, no one makes less than $10/hour, most make far more.

need a telecommuting employee?

[dbackjon]

Some will make it, some will get leaner, some may benefit from the increased spending that other minimum wage earners now.

Really need to know how many people actually make the minimum wage. In my 35,000 plus company, no one makes less than $10/hour, most make far more.

need a telecommuting employee?

Nope - but there are a number of dialysis facilities in NYC...

[Appaholic]

Federally-mandated minimum wage is BS. Pay employees what they and their job responsibilities are worth. The company's who pay low will have high turnover, less stable workforce & crappier employees whcih will hurt the business. Smart business owners know what job tasks and good employees are worth to their organization and will pay accordingly if they choose to be sucessful. Sadly, any interaction at your local DMV or DSS facility should confirm the government does not know what a good employee is worth....nor how to document well enough to remove the crappy ones.

[AZGrizFan]

Federally-mandated minimum wage is BS. Pay employees what they and their job responsibilities are worth. The company's who pay low will have high turnover, less stable workforce & crappier employees whcih will hurt the business. Smart business owners know what job tasks and good employees are worth to their organization and will pay accordingly if they choose to be sucessful. Sadly, any interaction at your local DMV or DSS facility should confirm the government does not know what a good employee is worth....nor how to document well enough to remove the crappy ones.

Agreed.

[Purple For Life]

Federally-mandated minimum wage is BS. Pay employees what they and their job responsibilities are worth. The company's who pay low will have high turnover, less stable workforce & crappier employees whcih will hurt the business. Smart business owners know what job tasks and good employees are worth to their organization and will pay accordingly if they choose to be sucessful. Sadly, any interaction at your local DMV or DSS facility should confirm the government does not know what a good employee is worth....nor how to document well enough to remove the crappy ones.

By that logic, I should be making more than I do, since I have more responsibility than the other part timers at work, but UNI pays me, so I'm okay (mostly) with making what I make since the budget situation is so dire.

I am willing to say I make $7.45 an hour, after a 20¢ raise last year. There are some jobs on campus I'm not qualified for where you can make more, though.

[Appaholic]

Federally-mandated minimum wage is BS. Pay employees what they and their job responsibilities are worth. The company's who pay low will have high turnover, less stable workforce & crappier employees whcih will hurt the business. Smart business owners know what job tasks and good employees are worth to their organization and will pay accordingly if they choose to be sucessful. Sadly, any interaction at your local DMV or DSS facility should confirm the government does not know what a good employee is worth....nor how to document well enough to remove the crappy ones.

By that logic, I should be making more than I do, since I have more responsibility than the other part timers at work, but UNI pays me, so I'm okay (mostly) with making what I make since the budget situation is so dire.

I am willing to say I make $7.45 an hour, after a 20¢ raise last year. There are some jobs on campus I'm not qualified for where you can make more, though.

But you don't because they know they only have to pay you a little above minimum wage I would guess......that's why I don't like it....

[Purple For Life]

By that logic, I should be making more than I do, since I have more responsibility than the other part timers at work, but UNI pays me, so I'm okay (mostly) with making what I make since the budget situation is so dire.

I am willing to say I make $7.45 an hour, after a 20¢ raise last year. There are some jobs on campus I'm not qualified for where you can make more, though.

But you don't because they know they only have to pay you a little above minimum wage I would guess......that's why I don't like it....

If they hired me on contract they could pay me more, but I would only have a set number of hours I could work in a year. I'd rather have the chance to work more hours for less and cost them less overall.