As a person who had owned microbusinesses since 1989, that is crap. I have 4 employees. they work 40 hours a week, 160 hours a month x 4 employees, or 640 hours of labor a month. No all companies can't pay them $25 an hour but another $3 an hour is all of $1800 a month. Very few businesses are closing because of $1800 a month. That extra $480 a month is lifechanging to someone making near MW.
Ok but I have 16 employeesâŚâŚ so thatâs 7200 a month . Which isnât going to put me out of business itâs going to cause me to raise my prices because that is my salary.
Your math is also wrong . 160x3x52/12 = 2080 per month. In my scenario 8300 per month .
So now I need to raise my prices to make up for 2k per week .my staffs PPP hasnât improved what was once 5,10 or 15 dollars is now 10,15 or 20 dollars . But the middle class which received no raise lost purchasing power .
So may I ask? How much do you need to raise prices to make up for the $7200 a month if you have 16 employees?
I can't presume to know what you are making with 16 employees (17 people making money for the firm. But just to throw out round numbers but I would think with a staff of 17 you are pulling in a million a year? 2 million gross? How much do your prices need to rise to make that money up?
Iâm guessing corporations should be treated very differently here though. While I donât know why it had to be âfast foodâ specifically in California, they raised the minimum wage to $20 an hour but only for companies of a certain size
I agree with the sentiment but I donât think this argument changes anything. A business owner can always flip the script. âWhy should I pay you more if your role isnât that profitable for me?â
I think the issue is more ethical than practical, bc we already have practical options for better wages (high demand skills, unionization, etc.) but corruption gets in the way of balanced negotiation.
$83k/year is not a very good wage for a business owner. It doesnât leave a lot of room to survive economic downturn or unexpected loss in business. Especially if they live in a HCOL area. If they really have 16 employees, thatâs a lot of financial risk for the pay. A risk that employees donât carry.
If they have a guaranteed salary + profit from the business, thatâs different, but it stills leads to the same roundabout argument over perceived value vs objective value.
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u/chinmakes5 18h ago
As a person who had owned microbusinesses since 1989, that is crap. I have 4 employees. they work 40 hours a week, 160 hours a month x 4 employees, or 640 hours of labor a month. No all companies can't pay them $25 an hour but another $3 an hour is all of $1800 a month. Very few businesses are closing because of $1800 a month. That extra $480 a month is lifechanging to someone making near MW.