vendredi 17 janvier 2014

Benefits And Shortcomings Of Minimum Wage Laws

By Marissa Velazquez


Without doing an in-depth analysis, it always seems that making more cash comes with only advantages and no shortcomings. Many people are however of the belief that making more money is recipe for bigger problems. This is what forms the basis of the debate around minimum wage laws. Most governments look to enact laws that legally guarantee that workers will be paid some minimum income, irrespective of where they work. From the point of view of the worker, being paid minimum income has significant benefits. However, there are a number of drawbacks as well.

The biggest benefit is the increased incomes that most workers will get. Workers will be entitled to certain minimum wages that are not in any way dependent on what companies, businesses and other employers believe they should be paying. Failure to have this minimum amount will encourage employers to take advantage and pay workers money they cannot survive with adequately. This is more so in places with few jobs and thus individuals have no alternative but to embrace the available jobs irrespective of pay.

It would be difficult to say that a job is entirely secure. Nevertheless, through being paid particular wages, workers are able to feel secure. The laws provide them with basic rights. With such regulations, as long as they hold their jobs, they will know what they are supposed to be legally paid. This reduces the uncertainty that crops up without enactment of such laws.

People that are in agreement with these laws believe that by not being paid a given amount of money, workers will be exposed to sudden reduction in wages. Such workers can find themselves out of their jobs unexpectedly. It will become practically impossible to live off a single job.

For people that are employed, one aspect that makes them feel encouraged by their jobs is when they are able to invest. This is however only possible when they have enough income and jobs that are stable. The single most important way to ensure this is enacting laws that guarantee minimum wage. For businesses, such regulations enable them put more investment in their workers. They will pay more for their workers, they spend more to train them, plus insuring and caring for them. Thus workers will be more productive.

On the macroeconomic level, such regulations could hurt workers. Experts are of the opinion that by making companies to follow regulations about lowest wages, some of them will be forced to pay more income than they can afford. This could lead to downsizing, whereby companies are forced to cut down on their rate of employment. This is the only way they can stay profitable. Eventually, there will be fewer jobs.

When companies are forced to pay incomes they cannot comfortably afford, they will resort to outsourcing for labor. This they do from other countries. Such labor is cheaper and thus affordable to them. Further, when wages are hiked, firms will look to compensate for the cost of keeping their workers in employment at minimum wages.

With minimum wage laws therefore, workers are set to gain a great deal. Among the big losers however are small scale businesses and companies. They have to trim on their employees to keep afloat.




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