I am saying businesses KNOW that the minimum wage is behind where it should be, so when it rises to where it should be, that is not an attack on them. They should have foresight. The minimum wage rising is making those employees whole, not giving them an advantage.
Yes, costs increase. Failure to plan for that is poor planning. Maybe you should have smaller expenses, instead of expecting society to allow you to underpay employees. Maybe the owner doesn't need a new Mercedes or a second international vacation for their family that year.
If paying workers a liveable wage makes your business not profitable, then why is it on the workers to sacrifice to keep you in the black? Small business owners are often all about bootstraps and such, but believe themselves to be an inviolate part of America.
To be very clear, small business is very important. However, it is not more important than people being able to afford food and shelter. The poverty line, which is used to help determine the minimum wage, is set at "3 times the cost of minimum dietary requirements in 1963". It doesn't cover shelter at all.
Looking at inflation alone, minimum wage should be hitting or exceeding $20/hr. Small businesses who have coasted - or struggled - paying employees $7.25/hr for DECADES (fun fact, the gap between minimum wage increases gets longer and longer every cycle) shouldn't be expecting a free ride just because "small business!"
There are ways to have a profitable business that pays an appropriate wage. Sometimes that comes at the cost of owner dividends. So be it.
I am saying businesses KNOW that the minimum wage is behind where it should be, so when it rises to where it should be, that is not an attack on them. They should have foresight. The minimum wage rising is making those employees whole, not giving them an advantage.
Yes, costs increase. Failure to plan for that is poor planning. Maybe you should have smaller expenses, instead of expecting society to allow you to underpay employees. Maybe the owner doesn't need a new Mercedes or a second international vacation for their family that year.
If paying workers a liveable wage makes your business not profitable, then why is it on the workers to sacrifice to keep you in the black? Small business owners are often all about bootstraps and such, but believe themselves to be an inviolate part of America.
To be very clear, small business is very important. However, it is not more important than people being able to afford food and shelter. The poverty line, which is used to help determine the minimum wage, is set at "3 times the cost of minimum dietary requirements in 1963". It doesn't cover shelter at all.
Looking at inflation alone, minimum wage should be hitting or exceeding $20/hr. Small businesses who have coasted - or struggled - paying employees $7.25/hr for DECADES (fun fact, the gap between minimum wage increases gets longer and longer every cycle) shouldn't be expecting a free ride just because "small business!"
There are ways to have a profitable business that pays an appropriate wage. Sometimes that comes at the cost of owner dividends. So be it.