Re:Seattle's minimum wage may actually cost restaurant workers
by Broken_Hippo on Tuesday June 27, 2017 @06:12AM
(#14643832)
"Even people paid by the hour obviously need contracts that ensure them an amount of work"
I wish this were the case everywhere. I've just signed my first job contract in Norway, and I gotta say I prefer it. Folks working here have a right to a job contract. Even if you are part-time or temporary/seasonal. Even if you work fast food. Even getting paid hourly.
It does take care of things like getting wages cut and having trouble getting unemployment for it. You have proof in your contract.
That said, the contracts really don't really make wages more fair, merely affects some of the reactions to a rising minimum wage. There really isn't anything about a contract that would stipulate a better wage offer. Instead, it forces folks to be a lot more upfront about the job, wages, and promises of pay hikes/time off. The employee can sign it or not, the same as they can accept or deny a job now.
I'm gonna guess you can do away with minimum wage laws, but only if you actually have a balancing force against employers, even in times of economic downturn. Laws do that, especially if updated and adjusted to make sense for the times, but I don't know of anything else that could do that. Theoretically folks can just change jobs, form a union, or get schooling/training, but this doesn't realistically work for many minimum-wage workers. A strong safety net might make those sorts of things more possible, though.
I wish this were the case everywhere. I've just signed my first job contract in Norway, and I gotta say I prefer it. Folks working here have a right to a job contract. Even if you are part-time or temporary/seasonal. Even if you work fast food. Even getting paid hourly.
It does take care of things like getting wages cut and having trouble getting unemployment for it. You have proof in your contract.
That said, the contracts really don't really make wages more fair, merely affects some of the reactions to a rising minimum wage. There really isn't anything about a contract that would stipulate a better wage offer. Instead, it forces folks to be a lot more upfront about the job, wages, and promises of pay hikes/time off. The employee can sign it or not, the same as they can accept or deny a job now.
I'm gonna guess you can do away with minimum wage laws, but only if you actually have a balancing force against employers, even in times of economic downturn. Laws do that, especially if updated and adjusted to make sense for the times, but I don't know of anything else that could do that. Theoretically folks can just change jobs, form a union, or get schooling/training, but this doesn't realistically work for many minimum-wage workers. A strong safety net might make those sorts of things more possible, though.