#my livelihood is not currently at stake but my savings grow ever smaller

[justicecaballer]

ok real talk. should i ask for my old job back.

pros:

they would very likely hire me back

i would one again have a steady income, cheaper benefits, etc

cons:

this place literally caused me to develop a panic disorder

I Dont Have Much Pride As A Person Except In This Case And I'd Hate Asking

[pmlaforest]

The Ontario minimum wage increase debate: a take from a small business owner

Since January 1st 2018, Ontario has become the first province in Canada to increase its minimum wage from $11.60 to $14.00 an hour, a 21% jump overnight. Another increase is planned for January 1st 2019 that will bring it up to $15.00 an hour, another 7%. There has been a lot of debate around the situation, from scholars to economists, average Joes to business tycoons. Let me bring my personal perspective on the issue, from a small business owner angle.

A few years back, I left the high roller corporate world to embark on a journey that I thought I was ready for: entrepreneurship. After all, I had climbed the corporate ladder and had been a senior executive for high profile Fortune 500 companies for all my young career; at times launching new divisions or turning troubled ones around, at times introducing to market new products and growing them to becoming household staples. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Entrepreneurship is hard… it͛s long hours, it͛s a roller coaster and it͛s high stakes. In fact, like most entrepreneurs, all I have or ever had was put on the line as collateral for our venture: the house, the RRSP, the savings, everything ! I have made many mistakes along the way that I have paid for with additional sweat and sleepless nights. These experiences allows me to have a distinct viewpoint from many on how the recent changes to the labor landscape impacts small businesses like mine, which represents roughly 30% of Canada͛s GDP, 98% of all businesses in Ontario and employ over 3 millions people in Ontario.

I am of the school of thought that everybody that works hard and puts in the work they do effort and heart should have the ability to earn a decent living that allows him to prosper and be proud of the work they do, no matter what they do. I still remember the impact that any modest wage increased had on my overall budget. I agree that minimum wages need to go up with time, as all other things do. Unfortunately, for many businesses (many of which are our suppliers), instant 21% increase in minimum wage (plus another 7% next year) is just too much to sustain. Despite what some people think, the vast majority of businesses work with razor thin margins that limit their ability to support such increase. Most small businesses owners I know work countless hours per week and often make less than minimum wage when all their time is accounted for. They risk everything they own to support the business they cherish and often will sacrifice themselves to maintain the livelihood of their employees and families. All of this without essential protections, such as EI, personal guarantees, etc. Perhaps some businesses with significant scale can stomach the recent increase but for most, it is significant. It is what makes the difference between making a small profit to a profound loss. It significantly disrupts businesses alike province-wide to find ways to cope with this new attack rather than focusing on how to grow, expand, innovate and employ more people. Business owners such as myself and many others are forced to explore the 3 options offered to them: increase your prices, improve efficiencies or cut costs, as did a well-known restaurant chain recently by cutting benefits and perks to its employees. Don͛t get me wrong, I do not endorse such decision but respect the fact that business owners are all faced with similar challenges and I suspect this will not be the only situation we hear of in the upcoming weeks.

Within our businesses, the immediate impacts on our wages is minimal. No one of our employees were making minimum wages prior to the recent changes and in fact, all of our employees are still making more than the new minimum wage now. Furthermore, all our full time permanent employees are entitled to company sponsored benefits and a group RSP matched by us, on top of other incentives such as paid uniforms from head to toe, summer hours, etc. Our combined companies provide for over 75 Ontario families with a payroll north of $2.1M, which equates to roughly 40% of revenues. For comparison, in the ͚͛green industry͛͛ labor costs average between 40-60% of revenues with a net profit of approximatively 10%. With some minor tweaks here and there, we will weather this storm, I know not all businesses are as fortunate as we are and I know that our strategy will need to change if the next proposed change to the minimum wage move forward next year.

Finally, I believe that the intended benefit to the employees who will receive the pay increases will be mixed at best. Perhaps, some will receive a pay increase in the short term but many will likely lose their jobs, see their hours and benefits cut and those who keep their jobs will pay more income tax and pay more for products and services they buy everyday. Far worse, those living and working in smaller towns in Ontario or in the hospitality industry where work is already precarious will likely feel the negative impact of such drastic measure quicker than around the Greater Toronto area. For political greed in light of the upcoming election, the current government is gambling with livelihoods of hundreds of thousand small businesses and families. The target of increasing minimum wage could have been achieved with little concern if it had been phased in over a period of time as it is done in all other jurisdictions but the potential impacts of a 21% increase overnight, followed by another 7% next year is a gamble that scares me. Only time will tell.