Seattle raises minimum wage to $15/hr

[mrsleeve]

He did, he just is breakinng down the billing a little more obviouslly. than his competitors

[nando]

I bet that guy makes more than $10k a month. Complaining about a 75 cent pay raise? The first in a decade? Wow..

I wonder if the sky has fallen in seattle yet. I'm betting not.

[BraveUlysses]

I bet that guy makes more than $10k a month. Complaining about a 75 cent pay raise? The first in a decade? Wow..

I wonder if the sky has fallen in seattle yet. I'm betting not.

Well, it hasn't kicked in yet.

Let's do the math: a $0.75 hourly wage raise supposedly correlates to a $0.35 charge per bill to cover the increase. That means he only expects his employees to serve 2-3 tables per hour?

[ParsedOut]

I bet that guy makes more than $10k a month. Complaining about a 75 cent pay raise? The first in a decade? Wow..

I wonder if the sky has fallen in seattle yet. I'm betting not.

How do you suppose he makes $10k a month? Most restaurants are run on a shoestring budget in order to stay competitive, especially owner operated places. Not saying he can't afford it, but instead of raising prices and blaming "food costs" like everyone else he's being more transparent in the reasoning. Do I think it's right? Meh...kind of shitty but at the same time he's making his customers aware of what their local government is doing and how it's directly affecting them. Most people don't pull their heads up from their Iphones long enough to even realize whats happening.

[jalopi]

Minimum wage jobs are typically ones that have the potential to be automated... the key is whether it'd be fiscally worth it or not.

Not to paint some delusional dystopian future, but jacking minimum wage up so high is the first step in taking those jerbs away and giving them to robots. Cost of labor just went up, but the cost of machines (which are made by people pulling in WAY more than minimum wage) will remain fairly consistent. Kind of like how most grocery stores (and some hardware stores) have a few cashier isles and 4-8 self-serve isles with one clerk watching over them. This is the first step in eliminating a few extra cashier isles and replacing them with more self-serve isles... and who's to say we can't apply robots to fast food? Just saying, within 20 years this is what the future will probably be like.

[BraveUlysses]

How do you suppose he makes $10k a month? Most restaurants are run on a shoestring budget in order to stay competitive, especially owner operated places. Not saying he can't afford it, but instead of raising prices and blaming "food costs" like everyone else he's being more transparent in the reasoning. Do I think it's right? Meh...kind of shitty but at the same time he's making his customers aware of what their local government is doing and how it's directly affecting them. Most people don't pull their heads up from their Iphones long enough to even realize whats happening.

Which makes you wonder--would they really care at all if he hadn't taken the extra effort to point it out?

You wouldn't do the same if his coffee supplier increased prices, or his dairy supplier did so as well. Or if the rent/lease increased. Or any other reason.

Not to mention that the potential for negative press or for this to be percieved in a negative light are so much higher than the benefit of educating customers why their bill went up a whopping 35 cents.

[mrsleeve]

Well, it hasn't kicked in yet.

Let's do the math: a $0.75 hourly wage raise supposedly correlates to a $0.35 charge per bill to cover the increase. That means he only expects his employees to serve 2-3 tables per hour?

What he only has 1 person on staff at any given time????? Ever look into a McDonalds at any given time, there are at least 10 people on the clock. I would say he's going to have to average 20 bills an hour, before there is any extra evil profit coming from this. Seems to be a conservative estimate at that

[ParsedOut]

Which makes you wonder--would they really care at all if he hadn't taken the extra effort to point it out?

You wouldn't do the same if his coffee supplier increased prices, or his dairy supplier did so as well. Or if the rent/lease increased. Or any other reason.

Not to mention that the potential for negative press or for this to be percieved in a negative light are so much higher than the benefit of educating customers why their bill went up a whopping 35 cents.

Exactly, he did it to make a political statement. As a general rule, it's not a good idea to mix politics and retail/food service. See Chick-fil-a, Starbucks and Chipotle as recent examples. Still, at least people know why their bills have gone up...good or bad.

[BraveUlysses]

What he only has 1 person on staff at any given time????? Ever look into a McDonalds at any given time, there are at least 10 people on the clock. I would say he's going to have to average 20 bills an hour, before there is any extra evil profit coming from this. Seems to be a conservative estimate at that

I'm not assuming he's doing it for profit, I think it's to make a political statement that he has to pay a very minimal amount of extra cost to pay his employees.

He stated in the article he has 6 employees but my math assumes it on a per waitress basis and has nothing to do with how many people are on the clock at any given moment.

If each waitress is paid minimum wage and that wage goes up $0.75/hr, that difference is paid for with two fees per hour but I'll round up and say 3 would cover it plus a bit of overhead.

[mrsleeve]

What the wait staff cooks too. Washes all the dishes, equipment maintenance etc.... the support staff in my expierance as a youngin make minimum wage as well in most cases

I missed the stated employee count my mistake

[BraveUlysses]

Generally most restaurants, only the front of the house (waitresses, hostesses, bussers and sometimes dishwasher) make minimum wage, which is why we are stuck with tipping.

[theevildoodlebob]

Generally the waitresses make less than minimum wage. The rest of the workers make minimum wage because they don't receive tips.

[Vedubin01]

In Massachusetts, where the tipped minimum wage is $2.63, the average income of tipped waiters and waitresses is $13.13. In Washington State, where the minimum wage for wait staff is $9.19, the average wage is $13.00 after gratuity.


Most states average $3 to $4 per hour plus tips.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipped_wage_in_the_United_States

[BraveUlysses]

Generally the waitresses make less than minimum wage. The rest of the workers make minimum wage because they don't receive tips.

Depends on the state yeah, I should have clarified my statement with 'in my experience here in WA'

kinda fucked up that people are expected to make minimum wage after tips are factored in but i'm glad my state does not allow for it.

in addition, here's the laws for minnesota:

http://www.dli.mn.gov/LS/minwage.asp

Large employer wage:
$8.00/hour on Aug. 1, 2014
$9.00/hour on Aug. 1, 2015
$9.50/hour on Aug. 1, 2016

"Large employer" is defined as any enterprise whose annual gross volume of sales made or business done is not less than $625,000.

[nando]

How do you suppose he makes $10k a month? Most restaurants are run on a shoestring budget in order to stay competitive, especially owner operated places. Not saying he can't afford it, but instead of raising prices and blaming "food costs" like everyone else he's being more transparent in the reasoning. Do I think it's right? Meh...kind of shitty but at the same time he's making his customers aware of what their local government is doing and how it's directly affecting them. Most people don't pull their heads up from their Iphones long enough to even realize whats happening.

Maybe the really crummy restaurants scrape by. but even in my 1 horse, 1 stoplight town, there are restaurants that rake it in.