So I found a couple questions about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and here are my answers.
- Will this happen all at once, or be a stepped increase over years to allow businesses to better adjust and prepare?
Lets hope it is all at once. Every businesses has had for as long as they have been in business to prepare to treat their employees right and pay them a living wage. All the workers have waited long enough: they don't need to wait a couple more years. Any business that can't do it, or more likely does not want to do it out of pure evil greed, deserves to go out of business.
2. What will stop businesses from laying off workers and otherwise reducing headcount to minimize the impact on their overall payroll?
Nothing. A business needs workers so they can't get rid of them all. In fact, for the last several decades most businesses have been very lean on their workforce. Many workers do something like at least two jobs, for low pay remember, because the business refuses to hire a single worker. Just take your typical large retail store. You will be lucky if they have even three cashiers on shift any any given time. So sure the company could get rid of two of them, and then basically sell very little of anything. Most gas service stations only have one employee, and you can't get rid of them.
Also, most businesses don't do much else but get rid of workers. I'm sure as you read this their is likely a group of business folks sitting in a room somewhere talking how they can get rid of workers so they can make more money.
Mostly this is just an empty threat. The greedy businesses will whine and cut that they have to get rid of workers. The simple truth is someone must do all the jobs though. So, they will have to keep workers to do those jobs.
3, Will it force the closure of low-margin and other businesses that simply cannot remain profitable with a $15 minimum wage?
Yes it will, and good riddance. Any business that can't do it, or more likely does not want to do it out of pure evil greed, deserves to go out of business. While many business are run by evil greedy people, not all of them are like that: some are good people. And the good business owners will find ways to make a profit and still pay all their workers a living wage.
4. Won't businesses just pass the cost of these higher wages to consumers, thus increasing the cost of goods and services for all and minimizing the impact on low-wage workers also by increasing their spend?
I'm sure the evil greedy business owners will try this stunt. But it's not like business owners are some massive united front where they will all agree to raise their prices nationwide by the same amount. And even if they did, we have a whole discount value economy for this very reason. So sure a super greedy business owner might raise the price of his hamburgers to $20 and say smugly "how do you like that price, ha!" Though it only take one other clever business owner to sell a hamburger at $15 and another at $11. Or maybe people just stop eating so much fast non food junk? Perfect capitalism.
Though having more money is always the better choice as it allows for more options. A person can always choose to save money, invest money and spend money wisely no matter what the prices are fro goods and services. They just need the money to do it.
5. What happens to employees already earning $15, and those earning between the current minimum wage and $15? If they all become "minimum wage workers," employers very well might end up with an employee-relations nightmare. If they receive wage increases above $15, it will further impact companies' payroll expenses and the costs passed on to consumers.
Well, if the minimum wage becomes law, then that is the minimum wage set for the whole country. So yes, someone making the low unlivable wage of $10 would now be making $15 an hour. It is what minimum means.
Will it be an employee-relations nightmare? Yes, yes it will. But every company that has taken advantage of it's workers and outright abused them deserves this and more. How many years did that employee waste at the company? Well, now it's time for some worker payback...literately.
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