Thoughts on Minimum Wage and Change

Many companies have found out that they can change the pay period to benefit the company and work the employee hours beyond what a human should work. These include more than eight hours in a 24 hour day and more than 40 hours without getting paid the overtime that the employee should be entitled to have on his pay check.

Starting the work week on Thursday, the company can work the employee 12 hours a day for the weekend and then restrict his hours for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. In this way, the employee can still get a full time paycheck, but not the overtime, which would be over 40 hours per week. This type of jiggling of the workweek also takes the extra benefits of having quality time off with the family.

During the time corporations and companies started hiring for full time work, Sundays were considered a day that people were not required to work. Then the greed of money took over and the exploitation of the employee became the norm of the modern job source and everyday was a requirement for employment.

Most people consider that Saturday and Sunday are the days of the weekend and that the regular work hours are Monday through Friday from about 7 am till about 5 pm in the afternoon.

While the employees have let the corporations make slaves out of them, there need to be changes, not just a minimum wage increase. People must make a living, a wage that would at least, be able to support the minimum requirement to be able to survive. The Unions in the North resulted in high dollar jobs, but also resulted in companies scooting off to other countries because of the high overhead of high pay and benefits.

The minimum wage might not be the problem, but the workweek and the determination of the overtime status. Maybe the workweek should be like previously determined, as the Monday through Friday, 8:00 am till 5:00 pm. This type of workweek would be great, but the companies and corporations need more production and the movement of goods. This is where the hours would be increased and the people wanting to increase their income could work the other hours, Monday through Friday, from 5:01 till 6:59 the following day, the pay would increase to time and one half. Saturday from 7:00 am till 11:59 pm would be double time pay and on Sunday, the pay required would be triple time, from 12:00 mid night till 6:59 on Monday morning.

The corporations and industries have made slaves out of the common worker by, paying low hourly rates, promising rank, taking away the insurances, sick leave, bonuses, holidays and vacations away. The corporations and industries have taken greed to a new level, with cutting benefits to the employee and throwing the profit and benefits to the CEO's and the elite of the company. This is especially true with the fast food industry that promotes employees to management and put them on a low salary. With salary positions, many hours are required, with little or no increase in salary, so the outcome is a very low pay per hour employee.

The management of the companies and corporations cut and slice any extra fat, which includes the benefits of the employees to make more profit for those running the companies. The companies are relocated to areas of the world that more and more profit can be made and exploit the employees, the environment and society. Nothing seems to be religious, moral or right, but just the idea of making more profit.

Soon the employees, if not treated better by the corporations, will not be able to continue working, because to the expenses of commuting to work, the increased tax rate, the food to survive and the housing cost.

The employee revolt will be coming, if not because of the previous reasons, will be because of the Baby-Boomers that will be retiring. These people will take a bite out of the workforce and an absence of qualified workers, with the knowledge that had been learned over the past decades. The Baby-Boomers will also need support of the younger workers, to support them in their Golden Years. The tax rate of the younger generations will have to be increased and the infrastructures of the cities are crumbling, needing desperate repair.

Another way that the corporations are exploiting the wages, employees and messing with the hours is that of rotating shifts. The employee will work possibly seven days, of which would be eight hours, without getting overtime for over 40 straight hours. The hours worked would be classified into different weeks, therefore stealing the overtime from the employees,

The rotating shifts would rotate all three shifts, after working one shift, the employee would be off for some time, then would continue another shift. The employee might work seven days on the first shift, then off two days then work seven days on the third shift, then off four days, the would go to the second shift, The employee's body is always adjusting to the lifestyle and the sleep patterns and the corporation saves millions from not having to pay the overtime that should be paid for over 40 hours.

The costs keep going up and the employee's cost of living keep going up too. The problems associated with the cost is that the cost of living never keeps up with the wages and that the taxes burden everyone and the also the businesses.

The answer is not a minimum wage increase. A minimum wage increase would increase the tax rate, increase the cost of food and increase the cost of living. It would drive all the cost higher, thereby defeating any gain from the increase of the minimum wage increase.

Some companies would cease to exist and some items would not be available anymore, due to the cost of production, transportation and labor costs.