Judge to hear arguments on WA minimum wage lawsuit

[CarlB328]

"Having access to employees who could SPELL, read, write, and understand how to use simple devices like; a tape measure, hammer, saw, keyboard, broom, dust cloth, coffee pot, automobile" would be REALLY NICE.

What does that have to do with minimum wage?

Actually the more you pay, the more qualified people will apply. If you're paying 5$ and hour don't expect quality people to apply.

[skinem]

Originally Posted by CarlB328

Actually the more you pay, the more qualified people will apply. If you're paying 5$ and hour don't expect quality people to apply.

This is generally only true if you are talking about jobs that pay more than minimum wage to begin with. This is true if everything else remains equal, but it doesn't. It is all relative.

There is an unintended consequence. Raising minimum wage also causes pressure on salaries higher than minimum wage--pressure to raise everyone else's salary. If someone was making, say, $5 more than a minimum wage employee and suddenly, they are making, say only $2.50 more than that minimum wage employee, they are going to expect to see that they get a raise as well.

Raising minimum wage still only attracts minimum wage level employees--entry level, inexperienced, etc.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by CarlB328

What does that have to do with minimum wage?

Actually the more you pay, the more qualified people will apply. If you're paying 5$ and hour don't expect quality people to apply.

HaHa, When is the last time you hired an entry level worker that could not perform basic skills? (and why would you do that?)

Do you think we hire folks just to occupy a chair? Sorry, not in my business model.

Someone is hired for a specific need, if they are incapable of performing that skill we have no use for them. The last thing we want to do is babysit and cover liability exposure of inept employees. I will just move my business elsewhere if folks can't read or answer the phone.

If the school system is not turning out qualified graduates, it is time to outsource education to any of hundreds of developing nations that CAN GET RESULTS. (same as we (USA) should do with healthcare)

[Sobefobik]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

HaHa, When is the last time you hired an entry level worker that could not perform basic skills? (and why would you do that?)

Do you think we hire folks just to occupy a chair? Sorry, not in my business model.

Someone is hired for a specific need, if they are incapable of performing that skill we have no use for them. The last thing we want to do is babysit and cover liability exposure of inept employees. I will just move my business elsewhere if folks can't read or answer the phone.

If the school system is not turning out qualified graduates, it is time to outsource education to any of hundreds of developing nations that CAN GET RESULTS. (same as we (USA) should do with healthcare)

Yes, our education system is terrible. I really admire the system in Germany--you test throughout grade school and into high school. Depending on how you score, they put you into specialized areas that you do best with. And I think we're one of the few developed countries that doesn't require you do learn a second language, which is ridiculous.

[Oldgoat38]

I consider myself to be socially liberal (and fiscally conservative). I want people off welfare and being employed at some level.

You can't legislate prosperity. The more you raise the minimum wage, the more people you exclude from the workplace. This is fact, not theory.

These unemployed folks then go on welfare (and/or resort to crime).

If you really care about helping people with low skill levels, then lobby for complete elimination of the minimum wage. Many more unskilled folks would then be hired and the state could supplement their pay with some sort of negative income tax. This is cheaper than the alternative of welfare payments.

You're going to support/subsidize these people one way or another. Isn't it preferable to have them helping to support themselves and feeling better about it?

[CasusBelli]

Originally Posted by CarlB328

What does that have to do with minimum wage?

Actually the more you pay, the more qualified people will apply. If you're paying 5$ and hour don't expect quality people to apply.

um...you think people are getting "quality" people at $10 an hour?

[CarlB328]

Better quality than at 5$ an hour. And of course they have more money to spend, which they will, and that will benefit all the other businesses.

They've done lots of studies that show that the idea that minimum wage decreases jobs is mostly a myth.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by CarlB328

Better quality than at 5$ an hour. ....

Really, why would $10/hr rent a better employee than $5?

I seem to miss your reasoning that more pay = better employees.

I sometimes get great help for free, yet spending $20/ hr brings NO assurance of a higher quality employee. I provide FREE high quality duties to several non-profits, some of which get stuck with really poor PAID employees due to restrictions in Grant Funding and employment law.

This is quite evident in all fields, engineers, scientists, CEO's, politicians

Even commissioned and incentive positions don't match pay to = a BETTER employee. High sales achievers may be be negative to the success of your business, due to being incentized to undermine the benefit of the company by pushing the wrong products onto uneducated consumers. These 'superstars' can also undermine the success of other employees, (booking sales that were nurtured by others) and many get an 'entitlement' mentality and end up stealing time / expense report items / customer loyalty... Then they run off to your competitors with your clients.


It would be nice if we (employers) still had the right to seek work related referrals, and to ask interview questions that reveal a personal value set.

Foreign countries still allow employers to hire competent employees .

Higher minimum wage will mean nothing more than higher expenses for employers, increased rents for housing, food, transportation, At least it gives me a good reason to hike rents to all my entry level tenants (which I won't do to existing tenants..., tho I live and compete in a capitalistic society.)

I still have post-911 rent reductions in place for my commercial tenants (that = 9+ yrs of reduced income for me, and worse yet, it brings down my resell values). But I'm still living on the same expense budget that I had in 1980.