Making New Jersey’s $15 minimum wage among the highest in the nation is going to be tough enough for businesses, but the way the plan released last week would go about it makes the economics of a $15 minimum wage unnecessarily difficult.
In an op-ed published Friday by ROI-NJ, NJBIA President and CEO Michele Siekerka said the proposal ignores the impact such a radical hike will have on the state’s smallest business, not to mention the cumulative costs of all of the mandates they’ve already been hit with in 2018. She also noted that the plan recklessly excludes any provision to freeze wage hikes during an emergency, like Superstorm Sandy.
Ultimately, however, the bill ignores the economic realities in which businesses operate.
“The fact is that small business owners pay their employees what they can afford,” Siekerka stated. “They want the best workers who can provide the best products and services to be competitive, with a full understanding of their own budget.”
Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin outlined what will be in the legislation on Jan. 17. The bill is scheduled to be introduced on Jan. 24 and immediately brought before the Assembly Labor Committee for consideration.
“We call upon the governor and our legislative leadership to hit the pause button and take a deeper look into these consequences before pulling the trigger on such a significant piece of legislation that has long lasting ramifications for New Jersey’s economy,” Siekerka concluded.
Is the goal future votes for these people blindly making decisions like this to force employers to pay more? It’s all good the idea of people making more money but at what cost? What employers pay their employees should not be decided by the out of touch rich politicians who never had to struggle to pay their bills or feed their families. If they are not listening to NJBIA who is in touch with the results of something like this then why do it? There are people who worked hard to learn more and make more money only to be competing with an entry level new employee who is making as much as them.
(White Noise of Applause, Donald – could not have said it better myself!)
This is a classic case of socialist engineering and it does nothing but harm.
If this is supposed to make NJ more affordable state to live in…then we are being taken for a ride. This is a combination of smoke and mirrors and socialism…tricking the populace into thinking they are gaining an advantage. It already is not working. Smaller companies, including the Mom & Pop shops, are cutting hours, laying off people, etc,. We complain now hoe we can’t get customer service from employees, just wait. The full effect of this 15.00 does not happen until 2024. The cost of consumer goods in NJ will continue to rise…. All that will be the outcome of this is that more businesses will shutter and more people will leave NJ for greener pastures. If the governor (whomever he or she is) and the legislature do not address the real issues NJ will continue to be an unaffordable state and keep on losing labor (skilled or unskilled) to other states.