How can small businesses afford twenty dollar minimum wage?
Steep minimum wage hikes and soaring labor costs leave small business owners making less than their staff while working seven days a week. Without increased revenues, owners are forced to cut staff on slow shifts or freeze wages, making it impossible to fund competitive salaries and health benefits without going broke.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1cutting down number of people on slower shifts
- 2limiting health insurance to managers and senior kitchen staff
- 3offering experience-based team rewards instead of cash bonuses
- 4Dropping coverage for weight loss medications entirely outside of diabetic use
- 5Implementing third-party cost containment and wellness programs like Vida or directing employees to alternative options like Lilly Direct
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I would LOVE to give my employees raises and offer free health care, but as it stands we can barely take a dime for ourselves.”source ↗
“wish we had more revenues”source ↗
“Now minimum wage is my area is $20 and tips average $3 per hour per employee. We have cut down nimber of people in some slower shifts so we can pay more to some long tenured employees but i am afraid I can no longer pay more than minimum wage and still make decent living for my 7 days a week ownership-gig with huge capital investment.”source ↗
“We had to stop covering GLP-1s for weight loss this year. It made me sick, knowing that it actually helps with a lot of other things as well.”source ↗
“The cost increase was 800% this plan year, so our benefits broker has again suggested adding Vida as a cost containment measure, and the CFO says we need to implement Vida or we stop covering GLP-1s for weight loss.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 3Should I take a very low-paying entry-level job out of desperation?
- 4Why are corporate accounting manager salaries so low?