Does a company have an ethical duty to find a balance between remaining profitable and paying all workers a decent living wage? Why or why not? Sure, a company has an ethical duty to find a balance between remaining profitable and paying all workers a decent living wage and this is due to the following reasons: 1. Fair wages pay for employee gratification, enthusiasm, and devotion. If employees are paid a decent living income, they are more likely to be creative, involved, and dedicated to their work. 2. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? Contribution of fair wages can aid entice and retain talented employees, and hence reduce turnover and the related costs of staffing and training. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' …show more content…
This contributes to the lasting sustainability of both the company and the society. Companies are part of the social order and have an obligation to contribute to the welfare of their employees. A remunerative decent living wage certifies that workers can meet their basic needs and have a realistic standard of living. Byars & Stanberry, 2019 Who decides what constitutes a fair wage? Defining what establishes a fair wage comprises various participants and considerations. The verdict is influenced by many factors, among which include the following: Governments regularly set least wage laws that start as a starting point for fair wages. These rules aim to ensure that employees obtain a minimum level of compensation. The labour market of supply and demand dynamic forces play a role in defining wages. Aspects like the convenience of skilled workers, industry values, and competition can impact wage levels. Labour unions also negotiate wages on behalf of workers. Negotiating contracts can regulate fair wages based on aspects like job tasks, knowledge, and business …show more content…
It sends a message that the company values its employees and is loyal to their welfare. Signifying an obligation to fair wages can improve the company's status and public image. It shows that the company is socially responsible and cares about its workers. This can lead to improved customer allegiance and sustenance. Paying entry-level employees, a higher wage can lead to improved enthusiasm, job gratification, and efficiency. Involved employees are more likely to go above and beyond their job necessities, resulting in better-quality routine and client happiness. Paying a higher wage can distinguish the company from competitors and place it as a company of high-quality. This can give the company a modest edge in enticing and retaining skilled workers. Byars & Stanberry, 2019 In conclusion, it can be verified that paying entry-level employees a higher wage than mandatory by law is not only morally responsible but similarly, advantageous for the company's performance, status, and longstanding triumph and or success. (Byars & Stanberry, 2019) Reference Byars, S. M., & Stanberry, K.
The wage determination system has moved from centralised determination through National Wage Cases towardst an enterprise bargaining framework. Safety nets are there mainly for low paid workers who are unable to secure wage increases under enterprise bargaining. There has been sustained moderate wage increases, low inflation, strong productivity growth and employment growth. This system appears to generate the best of both enterprise agreements and centralised wage determination.
Paying people fairly is good for business. Underpay, and employees will eventually look for a better offer. Overpay, and the payroll budget and profitability will suffer. Companies pay for compensation data because the benefits exceed the costs. The amount companies spend on surveys is just a fraction of a percent of their total payroll costs.
Understanding the basic concept of minimum wage is important for every single individual. We all live in this world together and it is obvious that there is an order. In order to continue our lives and afford our basic needs, we all need to work and gain wealth. As the old adage says ‘‘There ain’t a such a thing as a free lunch.’’ We need to give up on something that we like to get something else that we like. That’s why, every single individual in the society face trade-offs. However, people have different status. Some people work as employees and some work as employers. In that case of minimum wage the trade off is between employees and employers. Employees work for employers in order to gain money and afford their minimal living expenses whereas employers give up on their money and pay for employees because employers take care of their need of labor. Employers pay for their workers who we call employees and employees gain hourly money. The calculated minimum money that they gain in an hour base called minimum wages. Besides, there is this cycle that everyone actually works
Effective organizations are able to clearly define their ethical expectations by setting high moral standards, writing codes of conduct, and utilizing mentoring programs. “Masters provide your servants with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven” (Col. 4:1). When organizations clearly define their ethical expectations to their subordinates, they are much more likely to treat their customers fairly. Customers who are treated fairly are much more likely to be loyal consumers of the products or services that the company provides. This helps to establish a loyal customer base that a business can depend upon, thus providing a predictable source of annual revenue. If an employer treats their employees with respect, honesty, and with candor they’ll give the customer 110% (Rion, 2001).
An employer who pays his employees the bare minimum will not see the same appreciation and respect as an employer who pays his employees livable wages. Lew Prince points out the various benefits that have come with paying his workers above the federal minimum since his business began. He states, “We’ve outlasted 20-store local chain and numerous regional and national chains. Most of these companies paid their employees minimum wage or barely above. My creative, dedicated, and better-paid employees won this life-or-death struggle for us” (Prince). Their loyalty also benefits Prince in the fact that he has to pay very little for employee turnover and constant training costs that other businesses struggle with. What Prince and many other business owners alike gain from higher wages reflects only a portion of the nation that will prosper from this monumental economical
When employees were asked, what factors could be changed at USAA to help maintain employee motivation levels, a couple of them answered with, “higher wages” and “more money”. This response corroborates other studies regarding pay which state surveys will more likely under emphasize the importance of pay relative to other motivational factors. (Rynes, Gerhart & Minette, 2004). “Financial incentives had by far the largest effect on productivity of all interventions. For example, pay was four times more effective than interventions designed to make work more interesting.” (Rynes, 2004). One reason for this phenomenon is social desirable responding. It should be noted, that although pay may be under reported, the results indicate other factors are also important for employee
In order to keep the economy from fluctuating too far from equilibrium, the federal government sets price floors on goods and services. This tool known as a price floor initializes a minimum wage at which laborers can sell their labor to employers. Typically, the minimum wage depends on rising or falling productivity. It also reflects the inflation rates and the average income needed to reach the standard of living. Standard of living is thought to be improved with a minimum salary; making the average level of comfort and self- sufficiency easily obtainable. With a price floor on salary, equality and fairness in the work place is much more common. Workers in the same wage range don’t have to combat unfair working conditions because they
The living wage movement is an economic reform movement that has become one of the most important public policy issues that has come up within the last 10 years. Although there is no single definition, it is often defined as an hourly salary that allows working families of four to have an income that is above the federal poverty line. This means that the livable wage laws often stipulate that hourly wages should be two to three times above the federal Mininum wage. However, unlike the Mininum wage, the living wage has so far only been enacted on the county and city level. Cities and counties enforce the living wage for companies that have contracts with their respective cities and counties, receive subsidies from their cities or counties, other economic benefits cities and counties provide to companies, and in some cases a livable wage is required for the tourist areas of the particular city. For cities and local governments, the livable wage is perceived as a measure to increase the welfare of the poor. However, like everything in life the livable wage creates its on costs that along with its benefits of increased wage to some low income earners.
Over the past decade, politicians have sought to reform the national poverty levels by lobbying for what is frequently referred to as a living wage. Living wages, on the most elementary level, are the absolute minimum a person must make per year or per hour to stay above the federal poverty level. While the number of people that receive living wages is still small, Wood (2002) suggests that this is a trend that is gaining momentum across the United States because it may help reduce employee turnover and increase worker productivity.
A famous quote taken from his book Capitalism and Freedom, details that ‘there is one and only one social responsibility of business- use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase profits as long as it stays within the rules of the game’ . He feels that Directors or CEO’s of a business have a ‘’direct responsibility’’ to their employee’s i.e. its shareholders, and so therefore should aim to ‘’make as much money as possible while conforming to their basic rules of society’’ both in law and ethical custom.
This paper will discuss the reasons why CEOs are not being overpaid. It will apply the utilitarian ethical principle to many a few aspects to CEO compensation and whether or not it is justifiable for such pay. The paper will look at whether or not their performance is justifiable for the pay because they play such a big role in the livelihood of the company along with the principle agency theory and how it is being addressed for the benefit of the shareholders and others involved with the company, the supply and demand of the CEOs, and the paper will describe the comparison of other professions to help link the idea of CEOs being fairly compensated.
First of all, a clear definition of the living wage should be established. The Universal Living Wage Campaign Organization says that if a person works forty hours a week, a living wage should provide the worker and his/her dependents with proper nutrition, health care, housing, clothing, and transportation. Some debate has arisen around this definition though for a few reasons. First of all, the number of dependents the wage-earner must support has a huge impact on the calculation of the living wage. A wage-earner who only has to support himself can survive with a much lower wage than a wage-earner who must support a family of five for example, so how should legislation take this into account? If the idea of the living wage is to pay workers based on need, a law that provides a wage capable of supp...
They have long argued that requiring employers to pay workers more will force many of them to either cut back on hours, put off hiring, or lay off employees in order to keep their labor costs down. “Raising the minimum wage will kill jobs and stifle economic output,” NFIB Manager of Legislative Affairs Ashley Fingarson said earlier this week, as the organization sent a letter to the Senate urging lawmakers to vote against a bill that would raise the minimum hourly rate from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 an hour. (The Washington Post) Many businesses will be hurt by the increase in wage rate due to lack of expenses of paying employees more, causing businesses to lose money and even go out of
A huge problem in the working world is the issue of equal pay between men and women in the workplace. Once stance taken is that women are specifically targeted and that they are payed less than the average income of a man who has the same education and who works in the same profession while the other stance states that men and women are paid as close to equal as possible considering the careers taken. The issue of equal pay for women is considered an embarrassment. The term ¨embarrassment” is not an accurate term to describe the issue when so many factors go into how much women are paid. In 2014, a study showed that women earned 77 percent of what a man in the same position earned the same year. This looks bad, but
In today’s society, it is an understatement that women have come a long way from earlier generations in achieving gaining equal rights with men. Gender roles have evolved greatly throughout history; women can even be known as the breadwinners. However, discrepancies still exist when it comes to equal pay for equal work. This issue has the potential to have an impact on all women including myself, as I hope to one day join the workforce and become a financially independent businesswoman. While some argue that the issue is not relevant to today’s society there are still cases where women’s pay does not match up to men for doing the exact same work.