Minimum Wage

[bob57]

What politicians do not seem to understand is the LAG time between wage increases. Evidence the time Christy raised the minimum wage with much fanfare. One week after the wage went up, BC Med premiums rose. The first of 3 Hydro increases took affect, ICBC rates went up,along with property tax mil rates.Not to forget BC Ferries,Transit the ever increase of food prices.For those who received the increase it was gone in a snap. $15 dollars an hour now will just keep your eyes from sinking below the surface before the weight of more increases are piled on.

[cdawson]

So you are against raising the min wage to keep up with the ever increasing cost of living? those items you mentioned are going to go up, no matter what the wages are. and while I'd love to see actual meaningful wage increases, something is better then nothing at least.

[Hassel99]

So op do you have a point or a suggestion? What is the point of this post?

[gman313]

People keep seeming to forget most minimum wage owners are younger people getting started with limited life and work experience. Raise that and a couple things will happen: price will go up to reflect, more automation meaning less jobs, the cost of everything else goes up to reflect the decreased buying power of the $1.

At the end of the day raise the minimum wage to whatever you want, the buying power of an hours work for a minimum wage earner will not change.

IMO the wage is fine indexed to CPI as it stands now.

[Nedroj]

This is the worst idea the government has had in a long time and they've had some pretty epic failures. Raising the min wage will do nothing but *bleep* off everyone else that has worked hard to make more than 15$/hr and actually put less money into the pockets of the now new min wage earners.
Lets break it down for everyone.

A server with a highschool diploma making 10$/hr working full time will earn 20,800$ a year on the books. Because the basic personal amount for income tax is around 19-20,000$ this server will get a tax refund. The will also get the benefit of cash tips that 99% of servers will not claim on their taxes. So lest say on average $1,000 in tips per month. (I know not everyone will make this but I also know many servers at wineries that make more) So not only does this individual get a tax refund they also get cash tips every month. making a total of 32,000$ a year but pays no taxes and complains about being paid "min wage" even though they make way more than that off the record.

A line cook whom went to 2 years of Culinary Arts school making 15$/hr working full time will earn 31,200$ a year on the books. They are above the basic personal amount so they will not receive a tax refund. They also get the benefit of cash tips but not as much as a server on average so lets say 750$ a month in tips which they also do not claim on their taxes. For a total of 40,000$ a year, the individual pays some taxes.

With a 15$ min wage this is what will happen:

People will not eat out as much. burger cost 20-25$ at a restaurant but only $2.50 at home. as an example I myself will not order a steak, Ribs, or seafood when eating out because I can cook a better cut of steak or bbq a rack of ribs for a fraction of the price. This will cause many restaurants to downsize staff if not close up shop all together.

People will Tip less or hardly at all. With min wage now a "Livable wage" there is no need to subsidize their lack of pay with a tip. This will drastically reduce the amount of income both of these people will receive because now they will have to claim all their wages to the government and not have that extra benefit of cash tips going under the government radar.

Less places opening up Owners of restaurants/service industry businesses may not open up new places because their profit margins have been reduced now with having to pay inexperienced workers the same as the experienced ones. This affects more than just the food and drink businesses.

and finally You will completely *bleep* off people like myself that went to post secondary education, worked our *bleep* off going to school AND working a min wage job (7.15$/hr back when I was 20) living with 4 other friends in a townhouse just to afford rent. WE made this temporary sacrifice so we could make a livable wage of 20-40$/hr. There is nothing gained if nothing is earned. We all struggled through this stage in our early twenties so we could make more but where is the motivation to BE more when any 17 year old can walk into a photo copy store and make 30,000$ with nothing more than highschool education and the ability to speak and write English?

And I know some of you will speak out and say what about the server that does have a post secondary education but cant find a job in that field? Well the first thing I learned in GRADE 11 CAPP class was to research the career field and ensure that it is in demand and viable BEFORE signing up for it. Just an FYI having an ARTS degree means nothing in the real world.

[gman313]

This is the worst idea the government has had in a long time and they've had some pretty epic failures. Raising the min wage will do nothing but *bleep* off everyone else that has worked hard to make more than 15$/hr and actually put less money into the pockets of the now new min wage earners.
Lets break it down for everyone.

A server with a highschool diploma making 10$/hr working full time will earn 20,800$ a year on the books. Because the basic personal amount for income tax is around 19-20,000$ this server will get a tax refund. The will also get the benefit of cash tips that 99% of servers will not claim on their taxes. So lest say on average $1,000 in tips per month. (I know not everyone will make this but I also know many servers at wineries that make more) So not only does this individual get a tax refund they also get cash tips every month. making a total of 32,000$ a year but pays no taxes and complains about being paid "min wage" even though they make way more than that off the record.

A line cook whom went to 2 years of Culinary Arts school making 15$/hr working full time will earn 31,200$ a year on the books. They are above the basic personal amount so they will not receive a tax refund. They also get the benefit of cash tips but not as much as a server on average so lets say 750$ a month in tips which they also do not claim on their taxes. For a total of 40,000$ a year, the individual pays some taxes.

With a 15$ min wage this is what will happen:

People will not eat out as much. burger cost 20-25$ at a restaurant but only $2.50 at home. as an example I myself will not order a steak, Ribs, or seafood when eating out because I can cook a better cut of steak or bbq a rack of ribs for a fraction of the price. This will cause many restaurants to downsize staff if not close up shop all together.

People will Tip less or hardly at all. With min wage now a "Livable wage" there is no need to subsidize their lack of pay with a tip. This will drastically reduce the amount of income both of these people will receive because now they will have to claim all their wages to the government and not have that extra benefit of cash tips going under the government radar.

Less places opening up Owners of restaurants/service industry businesses may not open up new places because their profit margins have been reduced now with having to pay inexperienced workers the same as the experienced ones. This affects more than just the food and drink businesses.

and finally You will completely *bleep* off people like myself that went to post secondary education, worked our *bleep* off going to school AND working a min wage job (7.15$/hr back when I was 20) living with 4 other friends in a townhouse just to afford rent. WE made this temporary sacrifice so we could make a livable wage of 20-40$/hr. There is nothing gained if nothing is earned. We all struggled through this stage in our early twenties so we could make more but where is the motivation to BE more when any 17 year old can walk into a photo copy store and make 30,000$ with nothing more than highschool education and the ability to speak and write English?

And I know some of you will speak out and say what about the server that does have a post secondary education but cant find a job in that field? Well the first thing I learned in GRADE 11 CAPP class was to research the career field and ensure that it is in demand and viable BEFORE signing up for it. Just an FYI having an ARTS degree means nothing in the real world.

agreed - although your tax assumptions are not entirely correct the overall theory is close enough. Exemption is around 11,365, not 19-20k. and yep, servers at the winery I work at close to 2k/month in the good months, 250 in the bad months. One can easily be a professional server at a winery in the warmer months and a ski hill in the colder months, with the shoulder seasons basically off.

[Glacier]

[workingclasshero]

I agree with a gradual minimum wage increase over 3 to 4 years to bring it to $15 an hour.
by raising the minimum wage the wages for tradesman and other jobs will also go up. better wages means more money to
spend in the local economy. I have worked for $13.50 an hour and it is impossible to live with
that pay unless your parents are still supporting you. parents are subsidizing many businesses by
providing free food and lodging for minimum wage earners. businesses are making a lot of money and
count on low wages like sunlight, air and water which we consider free, no wonder they are quick to
complain. why should so many people have to suffer with such low pay and be told to stick it out.
people will never have any money for retirement at low wages, talking to them you will find out
that they plan to work until they die.

[my5cents]

With respect to minimum wage....

Sorry this is a question and an observation, not a suggested answer.

When I was a kid, still in high school, I worked at the White Spot, mostly weekend and during vacation.

You couldn't say that I was in training after I worked there for several months.

I was living at home with my mom and dad, I was still in school, so I didn't pay room and board.

Should a person in that position be required to be paid minimum wage, compared to lets say the single mom, with a dead beat husband raising two kids on her own on minimum wage ?

I know you can't really legislate a wage on the needs of the wage earner, and I realize that with two kids that single mom would get some government help, but it just seems a bit off.

I earned $1.10 back then, which according to the Bank of Canada inflation calculator works out to $7.24 an hour. Factoring inflation to this, I would have had to make $2.28 and hour to receive the equivalent of $15.00 in todays money.

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/relat ... alculator/

[Glacier]

^Exactly my point. My son is 16 getting his first job. Should be making a "living wage" even though he has no experience and no expenses? How do you legislate minimum wage so that you don't kill all the entry level teen age jobs while providing more money for single moms with lots of bills to pay? It's a tough question to answer.

Also, should minimum wage be the same in Vancouver as Prince Rupert when the cost of living in Prince Rupert is half that of Vancouver?

[Corneliousrooster]

Why is the focus of the solution always on the wage? If the government can legislate a wage, could they not legislate rents?

The bigger problem is not the wages, it is the ever increasing rents to stupendous levels. The biggest expense most people have is for a roof over their heads and the solution is the dishwasher at the diner should get an almost $4/hr raise? And all those people in the gray area currently being paid somewhere in the middle??? And those currently making $15 or $16 - they should get bumped up 3-$4/hr accordingly?

I know people on the Coast who purchased a house in the 80's for about $300,000 (this house is nothing special and just shy of 2500 sq.ft.) - their mortgage is long paid off and they now charge $3500/mo for rent because the properties in the neighbourhood are all worth 1.5mil+. Perhaps legislating rents in relation to the purchase price of properties would be a better way of making the imaginary "living wage" more liveable than disrupting the entire free market by imposing a wage that is not based on merit to absolutely anyone with a SIN #....

[LTD]

well good for them for getting that much for rent I fully support them on that if you cant afford that you shouldn't live there if you think theres a housing shortage now just think how great it will be when no one rents there home because the government decided to get involved

[Corneliousrooster]

well good for them for getting that much for rent I fully support them on that if you cant afford that you shouldn't live there if you think theres a housing shortage now just think how great it will be when no one rents there home because the government decided to get involved

The point went right over your head - that exact same house in kelowna would probably rent out for 3/4 of that, even less in penticton, and even less in Princegeorge. A fry cook makes the same wage in all those places because the gov't stepped in. The fry cook and his dishwasher friend could probably afford the rent in PG for the exact same house.

The value of land goes up, the value of houses go up, the mortgages (for new buyers) get bigger and the rents go up which makes the phantom "living wage" go up, which makes the cries for raising the min. wage go up. Raising the min. wage does not lower the cost of housing - housing is supply and demand and there will always be a demand for housing.

Raising the min.wage defies logic and is the simple answer for people who are not very good with basic math.

[LTD]

I think its great I will no longer tip when I go out win win

[bobbbit4]

You know, why don't ppl try living on below 15.00 a hour, as everything is going up but the wage,far as I'm concerned it should even be more than 15.00 per hour, I work hard, as I don't even make 15.00 a hour, A person by them self cant make it, Whats wrong with this picture, never mind waiting till by 2018, It should be now, This is very sad,