Government isn’t the solution, it’s the problem

Minimum wage just climbed up another rung to the goal of $15 per hour for workers. Legislators may think: Finally, a living wage for those in lower-paying jobs. This may sound like a good thing, especially to anyone making under that amount, but unfortunately, there is a downside to this. When this legislation was passed and signed, minimum wage was $13.25. This was not a living wage, nor is the final raise to $15 per hour. I’ll speculate that most, if not all, legislators who voted yes never had to make a payroll. Legislators may think: So, what’s the big deal? You’ve owned a business for decades, you must have the money. Oh, what non-business owners don’t know is all the tentacles of government that tell you how you must spend your money.

As a business owner for over 40 years, I can explain how these mandatory pay increases will affect my business, workers and customers. Until now, I have never paid minimum wage (with exception of tipped persons). I have always paid a bit more with the expectation of a bit more than minimal effort. I’m not sure how it will work going forward. I have three high school employees who were making $12 per hour. They all got a raise Jan. 1, and they are happy about that. But my most-experienced employees, who have been with me for 12 to 15 years, won’t be getting an increase this year because the least-experienced employees with the least corporate knowledge received the increase due to this government mandate. What will the high schoolers do with their increase? Who knows, but it won’t be needed for a living wage. On the other hand, I’m 100% sure my most-knowledgeable, longtime workers are facing huge increased expenses in electric, food, insurance, auto repair, auto purchases, fuel and more. That extra $1.50 per hour they won’t be getting equals an extra $3,100 in their pockets, and that could help, a lot! But which employees receive what amount was decided by the government, not me. And who is the largest employer in Delaware that taxpayers have to cover? Yep, the State of Delaware. 

Of course, all those increases and more will affect my business. What’s an owner to do?

Deal with it is our government’s answer. Well, I will, but the cost will untimely be passed to the customer and to the workers, with fewer hours available and fewer raises or bonuses. To my legislators and governor, before you pat yourselves on the back for raising the minimum wage, please let the free market decide how to spend our hard-earned money! You might feel good, but most of us will have to pay the price. The folks who earned a pay increase deserve the money, not necessarily the employees the government deems worthy. I am happy to employ workers with little experience, but I may not be able to afford to employ high schoolers in the future. That is another unintended consequence of government interference and mandates. "Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem" - Ronald Reagan.