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Do whatever you wish, but keep in mind that the employer is under no obligation to keep you employed and regardless if you are a dishwasher or a toilet scrubber, you can be replaced by someone who is willing to do a better job.
Disagree somewhat. Someone willing to do a better job would get a better job. At minimum wages its not realistic to expect anything substantially better than minimum wage service.
[i'm not adovocating raising the minimum wage, for the record]
Guess work ethic is an unknown phrase to you?
How well one does his job, how reliable they are, how well they get along with other workers, how well they can work and make decisions independantly, just for examples....these things apply to any job.
Quite often, those very highly paid executives you mention, have never been associated with the products/requirements of a company they were asked to go to work for.
But in a purely capitalistic society, giving away more than you are getting paid for, is bad business UNLESS it nets more business. For example, the baker's dozen. But in a salaried, or even minimum wage position. Going above an beyond id against one's own self interest, which is the basis of capitalism.
Yes, I think he should work to the best of his ability. But if the job is menial, dead-end, and with pay not commensurate with productivity (many minimum wage jobs), I think if feasible he should set a finite length of time to stay there (perhaps a year or two) and then find another job. I believe he has an obligation to do the best job he can, but no obligation to stay there long term. Indeed, low-wage number-crunching employers factor in employee turnover and they have assumptions (usually based on past experience) of high turnover.
especially when you think of temporary low-skilled agency work.
so how can working flat-out in these positions be of any real benefit to the worker? (once they have realised what the acceptable minimum is without getting fired)
I personally, and many people I know, managed to turn "temporary low-skilled agency work" into good jobs during the height of the recession when no one would hire without experience.
Work hard, VOLUNTEER for work outside of your responsibilities (or better yet......just do it and present the results), dress appropriately, treat people well, etc. Doors will open....maybe not tomorrow, but sooner than you'd think.......and if they never will because your manager there doesn't like you personally? Then go elsewhere.
Is putting in effort guaranteed to get you ahead? No, it's not. It is however your ticket into the game: if you don't put in effort, you don't have a chance. Trying sometimes means success, not trying always means failure.
another question would be: 'if we raise the minimum wage would it actually make these workers more efficient at their jobs?'
Trying to get into the mindset of an employer I find this a tricky question, but I suspect that raising the minimum wage, sadly, would not much increase productivity.
I think the best (most productive) workers would soon leave for better jobs (or perhaps for school) anyway, while the average to below average workers would not (often are not able to) step up their performance.
does an employee have an obligation to work to the best of his ability, or should he just work to what he feels his paycheck merits?
If he is on a low wage, does he have a right to do the bare minimum that he can get away with - in other words, what is the incentive for the floor sweeper on min wage at MacD's?
if he gets fired, then so what.
but if we look at this the other way around, those on much higher salaries and profit earnings, say they must get these wages otherwise they would not work so hard and create jobs.
Anyone see the glaring double standard here
so what is it to be?
I had to wrestle with this question once for another reason than what you are stating. I went looking for the answer and found it somewhere in the Bible or a Christian book. I don't remember exactly which one right now.
Bottom line is that God, not you or your employer is the one that is the author and finisher of your faith and your fate. He sees how hard you work and how honest you are. But how you handle your work is up to you. He also sees how you are treated at work and He can make a way for you when it looks impossible by human standards.
Do not hold back. It is all right to earn more than you make. Just make sure you earn as much as you make. Sometimes heavenly promotions are handed out to people who give more than they get. Sometimes you see someone that gets paid more than it seems they make, but they may have double-timed it years ago and are just now getting paid what they earned then. Just be happy you are able to work and earn. God bless you.
Here's a little of my personal history some of you need to seriously think about:
In September 2000, I went back to school and enrolled in a Network Systems Engineer program. The cost of the course was $15,000 and focused on Windows 2000 and Cisco Networking. It was a lot of money, but IT was firing on all cylinders at the time. I started the course with promises of a six-figure salary upon graduation, and worked my ass off 12 hours a day Mon-Fri and on weekends toward that end. Midway through the program, the dot com bubble burst. I went from being told about dream jobs paying six figures, to being warned I would be lucky to be working for minimum wage at Manpower. Regardless, I maintained my study level and graduated in April 2001 with my MCP, CCNA and a 4.59 GPA.
In August 2001 after applying to what seemed like 100 various employers, I finally secured a temp job with one of Canada's largest financial institutions. They were at the time upgrading from OS/2 Warp to Windows 2000, and were hiring people to oversee the migration. The starting pay was $15 an hour. I took the job and continued to work my ass off. In February 2002, I was hired full time with a starting salary of $42,500 a year, the chance to participate in a company subsidized share purchase program and a complete benefit package. Since then, I have moved on to another Canadian FI and am making the most money I ever have in my life. I paid off my student loan, my vehicle loan and now live in my own house.
The moral of this little story is not to be a braggart, but to show you that if I only had "worked to my level of pay" that I would never had been hired full time at my first job. Subsequently, I would not be enjoying the life I have now. My experience shows that hard work pays off annd if you wish to retain a position in today's job market, you better be ready to put in a little more than the next guy. You'd better believe there are plenty of potential employees coveting your job that would love to get the chance to prove themselves to be a harder worker than you.
For a salaried professional position, you definitely need to be at the top of your game at all times. No question about it. You are employed at will and will be kicked to the curb if there is a hint someone capable can perform the job better than you. Plus, these days most large employers don't like people "homesteading" in salaried positions for many years because it creates bottlenecks where talented employees don't have the opportunity to advance.
For hourly production type employees-- it's a little more complicated. The union mentality (a production facility doesn't necessarily have to have a union to have the union mentality) discourages favorable productivity outliers because it makes average hourly employees look bad, and it also makes management question if productivity standards are too low for the workforce in general. However, even in the case where an employer does have a few hourly headcount that go above and beyond (call it personal pride), they will likely not be compensated above and beyond their peers for fear of reprisal due to "favoritism".
SOURCE:
The current manufacturing facility I have been assigned to has been targeted for a "culture change". There is documentation of veteran employees on the production floor telling recent hires to slow down and not work too fast. They have our highest hourly rate in the country at just over $24 an hour. There are also ten year salaried employees refusing to work more than eight hours a day when their focus area is a complete mess.
No fear was implied, but your comment makes it clear that my comment scared you a great deal.
LOL. You are such a card. Get back to me when you have an adult thought to share.
Last edited by UNC4Me; 08-15-2012 at 06:19 AM..
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