Hollywood
Jr. Member
Posts: 1,724
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« on: June 27, 2017, 04:05:42 PM » |
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It is my opinion that the King County Minimum Wage Ordinance was completely irrelevant for almost the entire population of Seattle, Washington and surrounding areas within King County, Washington.
First, the vast majority of employers would not have had to cut jobs, because employees already receive salaries that exceed the minimum wage/compensation guidelines in the new ordinance. When you take a look at the average salaries provided to employees in each industry, and even the employees earning salaries in the 25th percentile of employees in a particular job, you'll notice that all jobs/positions paid above minimum wages in 2013. Thus, an increase in minimum wage would not have any effect on the vast majority of people.
Second, employers could count tips in calculating salaries, so small business (<500), where tips to employees are prevalent (restaurants), would not have had to increase salaries if Employees could make $13 an hour with tips. As of 2017, a small business employer in Seattle is only obligated to a minimum wage of $11.00, but must pay a total compensation of $13.00 to employees. Eventually all employers will have to pay $15.00 an hour, but the interesting part of the analysis is when salaries increase based on the consumer-price index (CPI) for Seattle area.
Third, unemployment has decreased throughout the United States. Both the United States and the Seattle area saw .08% decrease in unemployment from April 2016 to April 2017.
We need to see what happens in a several years from now when all businesses are paying >$15 per hour.
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