If a small increase in the minimum wage is going to cause your business such problems you ought to find a new occupation.
1. 12% is small? and that's just the first proposed increase. But I guess if you operate a business that can absorb a 20+% hit to the bottom line over a twelve month period without affecting anything else, like profitability...you are interested in making a profit right? 2. There you go telling me what I ought to do again.
Do I have to pay people to work for me or not?
I thought this answer would be obvious, especially to someone that claims to have "run small businesses my whole life". but apparently you need to have me spell it out for you.
Of course you have to pay people to work for you, and you have to offer an attractive enough plan to acquire the desired skilled personnel. If your pay package is too low, you will either be understaffed or staffed with people than are not as skilled as you may need/want. You, as the business owner will need to decide where the balance point is, that point where the amount you pay and the workers you attract best meet the needs of your business. On the other side of this equation, the individual worker needs to evaluate his/her skills and their value and seek employment where he/she feels they receive "fair compensation" for their services. It's called capitalism. You should learn more about it.
Please note that at no time was it necessary for a government to involve itself in the above equation. By dictating what the "minimum wage" is, the government is restricting both the business and the worker by telling both what they are worth.
Are there people that try to abuse the system? Sure. There are also laws that have nothing to do with the minimum wage that would adequately punish the offenders. Slavery was declared illegal long before the minimum wage was imposed.
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
