Not every business needs to pay a living wage. A healthy economy needs entry level jobs. Forcing business to pay a living wage will only spur automation. Think about that the next time you're using the self checkout lane at the grocery store.

Ohdnapword, apparently people forget that minimum wage was a Jim Crow law whose purpose was to keep blacks out of the work force.

not true he's paying them enough. they can stop being leeches and get a second job

Even entry level jobs deserve a living wage. Everybody deserves to be able to pay their bills. People shouldn't HAVE to be working two three jobs and sixty hour work weeks just to get by.

FYI many small business owners put a lot more that 60+ hours a week just to make ends meet. It can take years of ‘sweat, blood and tears’ to get to a level comfortably enough to hire employees. Then the cycle repeats itself over and over again. So. If minimum wage is not enough to ‘make a living’, then get off your ass and learn something that will make your services to others better. Then you can make all the money you think you deserve.

If you can't survive on what people are paying you, why should you do that work? Even entry level employees need enough money to pay their rent and buy groceries. How are your employees supposed to do their work if they're dead from starvation?

the problem is he's giving some employees more money then they would be making without him. they just need to out in their two week notice so he can hire some more grateful people. minimum wages is a thing created because of racist. tired of minorities working for less money so they put a minimum wage so the "white man" cant be under cut.

Working a job takes effort, effort that could be put into finding a better job. If he can't pay a living wage but is taking the energy and work from them that they could be putting into finding a job that will pay them what they are worth. Paying someone less than they need to live on doesn't do them any favors.

hey retard thats how you ruin an economy

Who are you calling a retard and who are you agreeing with? Because all evidence shows that the way to ruin an economy is to funnel so much of the money to the top that people get out their torches and pitchforks. That's what the current system that doesn't require appropriate wages is doing.

Making excuses also takes effort. Your comments are a great example of the unwarranted sense of entitlement that seems to be plaguing younger generations. It's always "pay me a living wage, I demand it". Now we have a fast food worker making $30k a year, about the same as someone with a 2-year degree, getting started in their profession. Please, explain to me how it's alright to undermine everyone who worked hard to get to where they are. I guess this is what happens when they give out participation trophies. Want to make more money? Put down the picket signs and pitchforks. Pick up a textbook. Learn a marketable skill and parlay that into income.

You know who's not to blame for someone with an Associates making 30k? Someone working in fast food. Blame the people who funnel all of the money to the top. Wages have been stagnant since the 70's and fast food workers (many of them having degrees, by the way) fighting that doesn't hurt those slightly up the income ladder. Those with millions are the problem. And **** that 'unwarranted sense of entitlement' bullshit. People, no matter how 'unskilled' don't deserve to starve to death. They don't deserve to die of exposure. That shit is propaganda from ultra-wealthy shitheads so that they can keep running up their score.

I'll agree with you in that the wealthy are running the show. Look no further than the US President for proof. However, there is one person to blame for one's lack of success. It's not the millionaire CEOs. It's not the politicians. It's the person staring back at them in the mirror. A kid in high school making $15 an hour at McDonald's does not help things here. McDonald's used to be used as a threat. Parents used to say, "Do good in school. You don't want to end up working at McDonald's for the rest of your life." Now, flipping burgers could be a solid career. Some jobs should not pay a living wage. They are meant for a teenager's first job. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd rather not pay $20 for a cheeseburger. People are only unskilled by choice. You do not deserve success for being lazy and just showing up. That's the entitlement thing I'm talking about. Anybody can learn a skill, and don't try to feed me bullshit that some people can't. They can't because they choose not to.

I worked three jobs at $6.85/hour to pay for university (and living expenses.) It sucked. I didn't want to do it for life. That's why I went to school. I also had no expectation that if I kept working those jobs, my salary should magically increase just because I needed more money. If minimum wage rises to the extent that business can no longer afford to employ unskilled workers, the option of working a no-skills-required job to fund education and training required to get a better job will no longer exist. You are entitled to what you earn and what the market can bear; nothing more and nothing less.

Most people working at McDonalds aren't kids in high school. Never have been, no matter what people say. They're people who have kids and need to provide for them. They're people who are trying to go to school but need to make money at the same time. They're people working awful jobs because that's all they can get. Maybe that's because the job market sucks (it still does, even though the employment numbers are saying that it's better). Maybe it's because McDonalds is the only place they can walk to because they can't afford a car. Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter, they should still be able to earn enough to SURVIVE from their job. You say that you don't want to pay $20 for a cheeseburger (which is a massive exaggeration), but they'd like to not starve to death. Is it really that hard to understand that this is a fight for survival?

The biggest problem with a living wage is that it's a relative thing. $15/hr gets you a lot farther in South Carolina than it does in New York City. A lot of people seem to think that if companies pay a living wage for unskilled jobs, people can afford things. Unfortunately, that money has to come from somewhere. This means higher prices for goods and services. Consider a grocery store for example. Assuming, the store is open from 9AM, - 9PM, 7 days a week with the exception of New Year's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas, the store is open for 4,344 hours a year. To properly staff it, I'll need a store manager, at least two assistants, four stock workers and assuming I have 4 cash registers, 8 cashiers. At any given time, my store should have one manager on duty, two stock workers and three cashiers. To keep numbers simple, my managers get $15/hr and my cashiers get $10/hr. To keep my store properly staffed, I'd have to pay $282,960 in salary. Since employees need things like benefits and I have to pay taxes on them, an employee's loaded cost is typically 1.5 times their salary. In my grocery store, that comes out to $423,540. For my store to be profitable, my labor cost needs to be 10% of my revenue, or about 4.25 million. Now, let's have a $15/hr minimum wage. My managers will want to make 50% more than non-managers, do their rate is now $22.50. Keeping all things the same, my labor cost is now $635,310, meaning I need to do about $6.5 million in revenue. In order to stay in business, I need to raise prices, lay off staff or a combination of the two. No matter what, it puts people in the same boat. They still cannot afford essentials to survive. The better solution than raising wages so people can live off of them is to lower the cost of living. Rather than fighting for companies to pay better, fight for reduction of living costs. That will help a lot more people.

First, $15 isn't a perfect number. I'm not advocating that $15 an hour is a living wage everywhere, it might be too much in South Carolina (though I doubt it) and it's not nearly enough in other places (San Francisco, where I live, I'd peg it at $20). You're putting out a lot of numbers, without a lot backing them up. I'm not doubting the actual calculations, but there are a lot of business assumptions that you are making and you're not taking the increase in money supply into account. Once a wage increase goes into effect, there's more money to go around and it gets spent at a far greater rate than when we just funnel it to rich people. How exactly do you propose we fight for a reduction in living expenses? It is far easier to increase the money supply than to reduce the cost of living.

Corporations are "exempt" from taxes? LOL. Until tax year 2018, the U.S. has had one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world.

Taxes and regulations are why I’m afraid to start my own business. Why make money when it’s all taken from you?

Too bad big businesses WANT small businesses gone. And they own all the politicians to keep small businesses taxed to death.

I work a manager position in a chain for $11 an hour, depending on the work 15 would be a ridiculous amount.

I work as a cashier in a chain for 12 dollars an hour...you're getting ripped off

You clearly have never owned a small business.

Wanting to work and being able to pay your bills aren’t the same thing.