New minimum wage in effect for Tennessee workers

[Spankey]

future CPA wrote:

Minium wage raise causes the employer that might be getting ready to hire 3 people to cut back to 1 or 2. These types of raises hurts the ones that it is supposed to help. Minimun wage is there to keep the unskilled and teenagers from being taken advantage of, not to live off of. Glad to see the wage has went up 70 cents or 28.00 a week on a 40 hour week, but how much will one really see after taxes? 18 to 20 dollars? This amounts to less than a half of tank of gas at today's prices. Those of us who are making way above minimum will not see a reciprical raise in our checks, so everyone looses in my book.

Thank you CPA...See yall, someone with a brain!

[Spankey]

Capitolism, Socialism, or, Communism...Choose and move accordingly.

[TN Sever]

hatemonger wrote:

if you are not happy getting 2.13 an hour get another f****ng job!!

Its not that Easy... When you don't like your work do you run out and get another F****ng job?? No. All severs want, is to be able to pay thier taxes. As a sever with only makeing $9000 total this year so far, I am behind $780 in taxes. At $2.13 an hour you cant pay taxes and you don't even have money for Insurance. You would think the Gov would catch on. If they want more taxes from severs up our wage!!!!

[Dava]

Tips can be great or they can be crappy. sometimes there is a great tipper waiting in the wings, but what about all those hours your boss makes you clean when you are slow---------FOR 2.13 PER HOUR. II also agree with NOT tip sharing. Not to the bus boy, or the hostess, or the bartender. The restaurant should actually pay their employees instead of expecting the servers to do it. Most especially the bartenders. they make their own tips.

[Ann]

Megan wrote:

What about servers? Are we still ONLY getting $2.13 an hour?

And your 20% tip? That adds up to much for than 2.13 an hour.

[Ann]

TN Sever wrote:

<quoted text>
Its not that Easy... When you don't like your work do you run out and get another F****ng job?? No. All severs want, is to be able to pay thier taxes. As a sever with only makeing $9000 total this year so far, I am behind $780 in taxes. At $2.13 an hour you cant pay taxes and you don't even have money for Insurance. You would think the Gov would catch on. If they want more taxes from severs up our wage!!!!

If all you have made is 9 thousand, you qualify for earned income credit, essentially paying no taxes whatsoever.

[Lauren]

Ann wrote:

<quoted text>
And your 20% tip? That adds up to much for than 2.13 an hour.

You don't always get 20%. Sometimes you get nothing. You can give the customer the best service ever, treat them like they are the only patrons in the place, bend over backwards for them and still get stiffed! Some people are just greedy. I wait tables part time on the weekends to make extra money as I am a single parent and even though I make fairly good tips sometimes I get stiffed. The smoking ban has hurt servers. Smokers always tipped better. At least they did me.

Can't remember who it was that commented earlier on but I'm not sure where you are a server but where I work when it is slow and we are cleaning, etc. we get paid $6.00 an hour. It is only when we are waiting tables that we get the $2.25. Might want to bring this to your bosses attention.

[Lauren]

Ann wrote:

<quoted text>
If all you have made is 9 thousand, you qualify for earned income credit, essentially paying no taxes whatsoever.

Not always true. You have to claim your tax rate, example our rate is 9.500% and that is all we have to claim on our sales. Even if we make $150.00 a night in tips we only claim our tax rate. It is very easy to get behind in taxes when you are a server. I always claim on every tip I make to avoid this though.

[Ann]

Lauren wrote:

<quoted text>
Not always true. You have to claim your tax rate, example our rate is 9.500% and that is all we have to claim on our sales. Even if we make $150.00 a night in tips we only claim our tax rate. It is very easy to get behind in taxes when you are a server. I always claim on every tip I make to avoid this though.

So essentially you are saying you make more than 9000 a year, because you make more than your actual income in TIPS. Your tips are income. You have to pay taxes on that. If you make too much to qualify for earned income ... what's the problem? Those that have an income of 150$ a day have a much higher tax rate than 9.25%. It's probably 25%.

So you still pay fewer taxes.

[mellaman]

They better raise the minimum wage to $10.00 an hour because gas will be $4.00 soon, and milk and all of dairy is going up also. How in the heck can someone support themselves on $5.65 per hour? I know i cant and i am single, no debt, no kids, no ex wives, no nothing and i know i couldnt support myself on that wage.

[Lauren]

Ann wrote:

<quoted text>
So essentially you are saying you make more than 9000 a year, because you make more than your actual income in TIPS. Your tips are income. You have to pay taxes on that. If you make too much to qualify for earned income ... what's the problem? Those that have an income of 150$ a day have a much higher tax rate than 9.25%. It's probably 25%.
So you still pay fewer taxes.

I think you have me confused with the other poster who stated she only made $9,000 a year. I never disclosed my yearly income. I'm fully aware tips are income and as I stated in my post I claim all my tips not just the precentage we have to claim. However, if I chose not to count them all by law I don't have to. By law I only have to claim my tax rate be it 9.250% or 9.500%, etc. I choose to claim all my tips to avoid having to pay taxes and that is the way the law should be. I do make to much to qualify for earned income credit as waiting tables is a secondary job. Again, I think you may have had me confused with the other poster.

[David]

A minimum wage position is supposed to be temporary. High School kids, seasonal work, etc. It's not supposed to be a career.

How many people do you know that are actually paid the minimum wage for any length of time? If you have anything on the ball, you will get opportunities of greater responsibility, raises for longevity, etc.

[gary]

Ann wrote:

<quoted text>
And your 20% tip? That adds up to much for than 2.13 an hour.

do you really think that all people tip that well ,? i can tell you as one who has served and dates someone who serves....THEY DO NOT, most people dont tip much at all.servers get screwed all the time.

[liz]

David wrote:

A minimum wage position is supposed to be temporary. High School kids, seasonal work, etc. It's not supposed to be a career.
How many people do you know that are actually paid the minimum wage for any length of time? If you have anything on the ball, you will get opportunities of greater responsibility, raises for longevity, etc.

that's the dumbest thing i have ever heard. some people don't have the luxury of mommy and daddy to pay for collage. we get stuck taking care of our parents and when things get sour having to drop out of high school to support ourselves. not everyones lives are lined with gold. i know girls who have been in fast food since they were sixteen and are still there and are in their mid twenties to late thirty's so learn a little about real life before you say something dumb about people who have no choice but to make minimum wage untill they can better themselves

[Montrose 1973]

If I had My way,Minimum wage would be $12.50 an hour.

[Right Wing Lunatic]

I would like to see statistics of how many people started at minimum wage in a fast food restaurant and made it to a high level position in the same company making a good salary.

[Jim]

Harper, you owe every burger flipper in the world an apology. Maybe you should flip burgers for awhile. Be good for you. Teach you some humility, to go along with that indigestion salad your're dishing up. Who knows, maybe your wonderful job will disappear, and you'll get to flip burgers. It's not a dishonorable job ... and the late Dave Thomas would probably just smile at your remarks. He made a few dollars "flipping burgers". Have a nice day.

[Jim]

Ann, you need to work as a server for a few years, and have to live on that $2.13 per hour, plus tips. Have you ever been a server? Doesn't sound like it. But, have a great day.

[Right Wing Lunatic]

Parents,

Please invest in your child's future, particularly their education. A college degree doesn't guarantee a person will be financially secure, but at least they won't be stuck in a minimum wage job. Most parents don't have a problem feeding and clothing their children, but why do so many of them not invest in their child's future? They've had 18 years to plan for it!

[Earl Keese]

race against time wrote:

It would be hard to help raise a family on $10.00 per hour. The government really needs to pay the hard working people for the work they do and stop lining their own pockets.

if you were to list the types of jobs that traditionally pay nothing more than minmum wages,
you'd find that most if not all are transitional jobs basically filled by the very young and college aged kids looking to get cash for school etc...
basically service industry/fast food/floor sweeper etc...

they're not anything you'd want to remain in as a long term career move.
(unless....de-de-deee.)
let alone try to raise or start a family on.

and since when does the government become the paymaster for private industry ??

employment should come from your ability to provide a skill that an employer can use to further the business and add to the profit of the company in question.

your skill level and negotiating skills should be what determins your wages.
not some government mandate that does nothing more than strangle small business with regulations that cut into the bottom line, by forcing you to pay some dolt more than he/she is worth just because they show up for work.
(that's nothing more than the ability to turn the key in your cars ignition, and remembering the address of your job.)

the people i see that are in minimum wage jobs past the age of 20 are usually in those jobs because they didn't apply themselves in school during the previous 15 years.