Effective June 1, 2021, the B.C. minimum wage will increase to $15.20 per hour and many British Columbians will be jumping for joy, not realizing the downfalls to this wage increase.
The downfalls are no more new hirings of new staff, shorter working hours, and a trip to the local unemployment office to file a claim for unemployment insurance.
The only new hirings allowed would be to replace employees that have quit their jobs.
The John Horgan math is that to offset the wage increase, is for business to raise their pricing structures. The business math is how to lower expenses and not raising their pricing structures.
John Horgan knows nothing about math. Along with raising the minimum wage is more money being paid out for employee benefits which is approximately 35 per cent, which the employer must pay out.
An employer must match the CPP employee deductions, remit 1.4 per cent of the employee unemployment insurance deductions, pay out more in vacation pay which amounts to four percent and plus depending on the amount of years employed, and Worksafe B.C. payments which vary in rates depending on the industry.
On top of that, the employer must pay 1.95 per cent employer health care tax based on total payroll. Some employers have group insurance plans which include life insurance, weekly indemnity, extended health, dental, and vision care. This cost would also rise from s increase in wages.
Lowering payroll costs is the only option a employer has to offset a increase in the minimum wage. Cannot lower rent, hydro, gas payments, etc.
And remember, people, come June 1st, when you have to wait longer in line to see a cashier, you also can say to yourselves, Thank you, John Horgan. For those of you who do not have patience to wait longer in line, do not put the blame on the business retailer, because if you were a business owner, you would be making the same decision-making.
Increasing minimum wage is bad math. Just read commentaries from Bill Gates and Warren Buffett giving examples explaining why.
It is ironic to see many British Columbians admitting that everyone deserves a decent wage but turn a complete circle in their shopping methods if they have to pay more when shopping.
Forget to realize that you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
In summary, John Horgan keeps shooting off from the hip with doing absolutely no research on the topic and very sad to see as he is the mainstay in watching over our province, making mistake after mistake wasting money.
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan