The Pros And Cons Of The Fair Work Commission

than $5.15 an hour. Overtime pay at a rate of not less than one and

Since businesses would have to pay more in salaries, they would hire less, or not hire at all.

During all the history of minimum wages a bunch of studies were made to analyse the effects that the minimum wage changes can bring to employee’s life. In the oldest studies, the institutions that worked on it couldn’t find a significant change on the employees, job searches and employee’s behaviours. The only fact that was noticed was the

The Fair Labor Standards Act has been amended many times and is virtually an ever-changing law, however, it does not cover all employees. There are several classes of “exempt” employees, including salaried employees in the executive/managerial, administrative, and professional areas. Outside salespeople are also considered exempt. One of the issues facing companies today is knowing which employees are exempt and which are non-exempt. There are tests to determine if an employee is exempt. In 2004 the tests changed to a standard test, which is whether or not the employee’s salary is $455/week or greater and the duties test, which allows for exempt status if more than 50% of the work performed by an individual is “exempt work.” (Pass and Broadwater) Exempt employees do not receive overtime pay, which can be a substantial cost savings to a company. My previous employer required that an exempt manager close the center each night even though we had non-exempt team leads who acted as managers in most capacities. The reason was to avoid overtime costs.

“By increasing the cost of labor, they reduce the demand for it.” (Zwolinski 6) Businesses could suffer from the wage increase because the expectations of skill from their employees will be much higher. Most people who are unemployed are concerned that the jobs they could once apply for will no longer be an option for work because they are underprivileged. “When jobs are scarce, then immigrants, workers with few skills or little education, and those with limited Englsih proficiency are going to have a harder time convincing employers that their labor is worth $15 an hour then their better-skilled, native, English-speaking competitors.” (Zwolinksi 5) The underprivileged make up a large part of the current employment in businesses.

Okay, so some people may lose benefits, but at least they are able to bring home more in their pockets. Fair enough, but what if that wasn’t enough to compensate for the profit loss in companies? So now what? Well the company’s only option is to fire some employees. Sherk (2007), states “that most estimates suggest that each ten percent increase in the minimum wage reduces employment in affected groups of workers by roughly two percent.

Increasing the wage for all employees will cost a lot of money for employers. Business will be faced with two decisions, either “raise their prices”, or “simply cut employees or reduce benefits” (Williams). If they choose to raise up prices, then there will be no benefit for the increase of wage. Employees will get an increase in wage, but so is prices of almost everything. And if businesses choose to cut employees and benefits, then the number of unemployment could possibly arise, and the benefits such as paid vacations and PTO, can be easily get demolished.

Sunday rates remained at 175% for casuals in the hospitality industry, and there was no cut for level two and three employees in the fast food award. The commission cut public holiday rates in the hospitality and retail awards – except for clubs – from 250% to 225% for full-time and part-time employees. The casuals’ rate will be 250%.

Beside the increase in cost to businesses and customers, other people can potentially be hurt by this policy. By increasing the wage, small businesses will suffer a higher cost that can lead to cutting jobs, stalling new hire or even shutting down. On the other hand, the economic plight of these minimum wage workers should also be considered. Therefore, the $15 plan would produce unpredictable consequences, while not doing anything would doom minimum wage workers to live in in poverty and to consume public resources.

First this paper will discuss the purpose of the bill, second this paper will highlight the potentiality of raised prices within the economy as well as the general effect among society, next this paper will explain how increased minimum wages will produce a decrease in human labor within the workforce, and finally this paper will prove why this bill is truly unnecessary for Americans.

When the cost of labor is increased artificially by legislation instead of through market forces, companies will attempt to reduce their cost. When you pay someone more to work, the assumption is that they will have more disposable income and increased consumption will contribute to the economy as a whole. By increasing the cost of labor without an increase in productivity, market forces will cause a business to look for alternatives either through reduction in work force or by relocating jobs (offshoring). While those who are still employed will see an increase in pay, those lost their job will have no income and the government will lose the taxes associated with those jobs.

In this globalization era, as various countries see growth in their economy, there has also been significant differences in the wages set to employees in different countries. The lowest wages set by the law that are fixed to a particular amount which is also defined to be the price floor below which workers shall not sell their labor, has its own effects. The minimum wage law came into force as a matter of social justice amongst the low-wage workers, also to reduce exploitation and see that workers can afford the standard basic living expenses and necessities, not to increase the unemployment rate, indeed to increase the employment rate.

In the technical sense, penalty rates are a form of tangible benefit within the financial context which generally refers to those payments made to workers outside normal working hours. Regulator motivations for including penalty rates in modern awards as stated by (Sloane, 2014) are twofold: firstly, to compensate workers for work performed during what was historically known as ‘unsociable hours’ and secondly, to dissuade employers from operating within those hours. However, as advocated by (Sheldon & Thornthwaite, 2013) the modern award reviews have ‘provided a forum for employers and their associations to escalate their campaign to the significance of penalty rates in industries operating during the traditionally ‘unsociable hours’, which is evidence that employer associations prefer to enhance managerial prerogative over productivity which is predominantly concerned with the cost of resources. The push for the examination of provisions regarding penalty rates has mostly been seen to affect the tourism and retail industries.

The wage gap will be addressed and the effect of wage differentials will hopefully be reduced by the introduction of a national minimum wage that applies to all regions. The benefits discussed above are for employees but business should also gain for the NMW to be considered a useful tool in the economy. The argument that people's incentive to work is increased also affects business as if people are happier in their jobs, they are less likely to consider leaving.

In the U.S. labor relations, a group of employees who desire to bargain collectively rather than individually, are those who typically form a union (Dooley, 1957). This demonstrates to the employer that the majority of its employees support the union and the organizing process begins. First, employees cannot form a union without abiding by certain basic procedural steps and legal standards that are required. Decisions to vote against or for a union are based on factors such as satisfaction with their job, beliefs of the effectiveness of the union, and the culture or social environment in which the employee works. Next, when an employer exerts undue punishment to an employee who the employer suspects as being an illegal alien, this may be poor public policy. From a legal perspective, a recent federal court case, Singh v. Jutla & C.D. & R. Oil, Inc., 214 F. Supp. 2d 1056 (N.D. Cal. 2002) spoke to this issue. In this case, when the plaintiff Singh filed a wage claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the employer fired him and reported him to INS as an illegal alien (Labor Law, 1969). Likewise, the union certification process which was established by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in 1935 was a victory for workers waning union representation upon its initial implementation. Workers could petition the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a determination made democratically of whether a majority of workers favored unionization (Labor Law, 1969). This effort