# Minimum Wage Idea **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 5, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339 "2015-05-05T20:57:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339/61 "2015-05-08T23:01:06Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not on a continuum, though. For example, the FMLA (and most similar legislation at the federal level) applies to businesses with more than 50 employees, and that’s it. There’s no increase in the amount of leave required for businesses with 100, or 1000, or whatever. It’s slightly different between business with 100 and 1000, but not much - and I’d have to look up the details. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339/62 "2015-05-10T03:43:56Z")
> [@Phu\_Cat](#): > > Everybody is looking at this from the employee’s perspective. The employee may think he/she is there for his/her own benefit, but they aren’t. They’re there for the employer’s benefit. That’s why the employer is paying them a salary for a certain amount of work within a given amount of time. If the employee doesn’t meet those qualifications, the employee may suffer certain penalties. None of this was discussed above. Does this employee meet the minimum standard, or do they possibly exceed the standard? Therein lies the question of increasing the minimum wage. Just arbitrarily raising the minimum wage because certain people scream loud enough is only a temporary fix. If you are trying to support a family on minimum wage, something else is wrong AND IT AIN’T SOCIETY’S FAULT! > > Phu Cat It’s an equal trade, in theory. The worker gets a fair wage AND no risk, and the employer gets work out of them, probably somewhat above and beyond what they’re paying them. Ideally the assumption of no risk (i.e. the employee keeps getting paid if the company isn’t making profits, etc…) is roughly equal to the amount of value the employer gets from the worker above and beyond what they pay the worker. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339/63 "2015-05-11T13:39:08Z")
> [@Mr.Nylock](#): > > It’s slightly different between business with 100 and 1000, but not much - and I’d have to look up the details. Under state equivalents, perhaps, but under the federal FMLA there is no difference between 100 and 1000. Maybe you’re thinking of the 1,250 hours required for an employee to be covered. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339/64 "2015-05-11T17:13:29Z")
> [@Phu\_Cat](#): > > Everybody is looking at this from the employee’s perspective. The employee may think he/she is there for his/her own benefit, but they aren’t. They’re there for the employer’s benefit. That’s why the employer is paying them a salary for a certain amount of work within a given amount of time. If the employee doesn’t meet those qualifications, the employee may suffer certain penalties. None of this was discussed above. Does this employee meet the minimum standard, or do they possibly exceed the standard? Therein lies the question of increasing the minimum wage. Just arbitrarily raising the minimum wage because certain people scream loud enough is only a temporary fix. If you are trying to support a family on minimum wage, something else is wrong AND IT AIN’T SOCIETY’S FAULT! > > Phu Cat If the employee can’t do work that yields more than his salary, he can and will get fired. However the employer needs to set up the job so success is possible. If the employee produces many times his salary, and there is an excess of available labor out there, he may not get more than the MW anyway. There is nothing requiring an employer to pay what an employee is worth in terms of productivity if there is a glut of labor on the market. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339/65 "2015-05-11T19:50:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Not on a continuum, though. For example, the FMLA (and most similar legislation at the federal level) applies to businesses with more than 50 employees, and that’s it. There’s no increase in the amount of leave required for businesses with 100, or 1000, or whatever. Yes, right now, individual laws tend to have on/off characteristics at a particular number. It does look like something like a continuum when you take all of the different laws into account, though. For example, Seattle has a law requiring paid time off if you have 5 or more employees. COBRA coverage must be offered at 20 or more. Right now, ACA mandates are only at 100 employees. SSA doesn’t require electronic filing of W-2s until 250 employees. So that random sampling of laws imposes new employer compliance issues at 5, 20, 50, 100 and 250 employees. That makes it very close to a continuum from the employer’s perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339/66 "2015-05-11T20:40:56Z")
Only if the employer can’t distinguish between the different laws. The OP is presumably not talking about passing his new minimum wage mandates in multiple pieces of legislation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minimum-wage-idea/719339.md?page=3)