If the minimum wage is such a great idea why do we punish those who don’t pay it with a fine?
THIS is a very clever way of looking at the minimum wage:
The most direct evidence that advocates for minimum wage laws do not believe their own argument is the fact that they propose fines for companies that pay less than the legislated minimum. How are fines suppose to motivate businesses that are indifferent to costs?
Think about it for a moment.
And yes, we do fine people who don’t pay the minimum wage:
HMRC said on top of forcing wage payments, they had issued fines to 708 employers with 51 receiving the maximum penalty of £5,000.
So, the argument is that paying the minimum wage is something good for business. Certainly, you’ve got all those Living Wage people saying that it does wonders for morale and staff turnover to be paying higher wages. So, why, when people don’t pay the higher wages, do we fine them?
For at that point we’re obviously saying that taking more of the businesses’ money away is a punishment. But at the same time we’re saying that taking more of the businesses’ money away is good for the business.
Well, which is it?
Posted: 30th, September 2013 | In: Money Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
