mardi 14 janvier 2014

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Minimum Wage Laws

By Marissa Velazquez


On the surface, it always looks like making more money comes with only good things. There are however people that believe that with more money come more problems. This is what brings about the debate revolving around minimum wage laws. Governments seek to have a legal guarantee that workers are to be paid some minimum amount of money. From the perspective of workers, there are significant advantages to such regulations, with 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.

Whereas there is no job that one can say is completely secure, workers are able to derive some form of security from such laws that guarantee minimum wages. Workers are provided with basic rights. They will know how much money they will be paid as long as they hold such jobs. Thus, uncertainty is reduced as people keep working with peace of mind.

Proponents of these laws believe that if such regulations were not set, there is the probability of workers being exposed to anticipated and sudden drop in wages. In this way, they will find themselves out of their jobs after a while. Beyond that, they will not be able to live off just a single job- they will have to get several jobs.

Investments are an important aspect for the employed. However, the only way one would be able to do so is when they have an assured income and stable jobs. Thus from the perspective of the worker, investment becomes an achievable dream when jobs are stable and income considerable. As concerns businesses, they will invest more in productivity of workers. In other words, if businesses have to pay more for their employees, it will serve them more to train, insure and care for the employee.

From a macroeconomic level, minimum wage laws could be hurting to workers. When companies and businesses are made to abide by certain regulations bordering on wages, a number of them may be forced to pay more than they can actually afford. They will thus be forced to downsize on the number of employees as the only way to stay profitable. Some employees will be laid off and there will be fewer jobs eventually.

Another shortcoming is outsourcing. In the modern market, companies want skilled labor at the lowest costs possible. Therefore, companies that do not have deep pockets will tend to look to other nations for cheaper labor. Hiking of wages will be a threat to workers already employed as firms look to do compensation for the cost of keeping workers employed 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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