Minimum Wage - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The existence of minimum wage among the working class society of America is proving a confusing task for policy makers, and it is high time this debate was put to rest with concrete evidence for or against the minimum wage.
In my opinion, there should be no minimum wage altogether. This is because its existence pushes people (both employers and employees) to react differently to their current financial situations. The fact that any state or county can alter its minimum wage to suit the current financial situation is evidence of the double standards that exist in most local government institutions. It is the belief of most people who support the minimum wage that it is there to protect the low-treading workers in society (Taylor & Weerapane, 2009). However, it should be noted that the same people the minimum wage aims to assist may also be the main source of their pain. Minimum wage, according to my understanding, is a government’s value of an individual worker. It is imposed by the government, and whatever it dictates should be adhered to, which should not be the case. It is my belief that an individual’s value should be determined by the open, free market.
In service jobs where the employee receives tips, there should be no differing and/or lower minimum wage for these individuals. Employers are bound by law, even in these services, to pay the employee who receives tips their minimum wage. This is regardless of whether the employee has regularly received tips, or not. One thing worth noting is that in such services, employers are forced to pay minimum wage to these employees if they have not been able to equal the required lowest hourly income through tips. Minimum wage laws specific to a given state require that employees who are under federal and state laws must receive provisions that have the greatest benefits (Neumer & Wascher, ...Download file to see next pagesRead More