Advantages And Disadvantages Of Minimum Wage Laws

By Marissa Velazquez


Without doing an in-depth analysis, it always seems that making more cash comes with only advantages and no shortcomings. Many people are however of the belief that making more money is recipe for bigger problems. This is what forms the basis of the debate around minimum wage laws. Most governments look to enact laws that legally guarantee that workers will be paid some minimum income, irrespective of where they work. From the point of view of the worker, being paid minimum income has significant benefits. However, there are a number of drawbacks as well.

The biggest advantage is the fact that there will be more money for workers. The law allows workers to earn some minimum amount that is independent of what companies and other employers believe they need to be paid. Without this lowest amount, employers would take advantage. In areas with few jobs especially, they will pay wages that workers cannot use to survive, but people will be forced to take such jobs because they have no other options.

Whereas there is no job that one can say is completely secure, workers are able to derive some form of security from such laws that guarantee minimum wages. Workers are provided with basic rights. They will know how much money they will be paid as long as they hold such jobs. Thus, uncertainty is reduced as people keep working with peace of mind.

People that are in agreement with these laws believe that by not being paid a given amount of money, workers will be exposed to sudden reduction in wages. Such workers can find themselves out of their jobs unexpectedly. It will become practically impossible to live off a single job.

For people that are employed, one aspect that makes them feel encouraged by their jobs is when they are able to invest. This is however only possible when they have enough income and jobs that are stable. The single most important way to ensure this is enacting laws that guarantee minimum wage. For businesses, such regulations enable them put more investment in their workers. They will pay more for their workers, they spend more to train them, plus insuring and caring for them. Thus workers will be more productive.

On the macroeconomic level, such regulations could hurt workers. Experts are of the opinion that by making companies to follow regulations about lowest wages, some of them will be forced to pay more income than they can afford. This could lead to downsizing, whereby companies are forced to cut down on their rate of employment. This is the only way they can stay profitable. Eventually, there will be fewer jobs.

When companies are forced to pay incomes they cannot comfortably afford, they will resort to outsourcing for labor. This they do from other countries. Such labor is cheaper and thus affordable to them. Further, when wages are hiked, firms will look to compensate for the cost of keeping their workers in employment at minimum wages.

Therefore, it is evident that with minimum wage laws, workers are set to benefit a great deal. The shortcomings affect mainly people that are yet to get employed. Further, small businesses and companies are set to be the biggest opponents of the law because they will not benefit as much.




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