The answer to $15.00 Hour fast food restaurant wages

[ronandannette]

And a funny thing about the new "order kiosks" at McDonald's in our town...McDonald's is paring back their counter staff but just held a hiring drive for (and I forget exactly what they're calling the position) people to stand in the lobby and help customers operate the machines...

 

[O RLY]

Everyone should get at $15 an hour and burger flippers should obviously make the same as someone who went to college or trade school. Its a starter Job to bring you into the workforce. Not a forever Job to live on.


Come on its entry level work and you're supposed to grow and strive to get a better job/more money. Not expect a fast food cashier to support a family of 3 or 4 or 5 + people. Use a starter job to force yourself to want/be better and achieve more.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Kennedy space center cafeterias have self ordering stations and 1 cashier for folks who can't or don't want to use them.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I never thought the $15 an hour for fast food workers movement would succeed. Surprising to me that it has in some areas. The push does come with unintended consequences.

 

[aaarcher86]

While I agree FF workers are definitely typically entry level people & the work is also entry level, the fact is the job itself requires a LOT more effort (and in some cases, more skill) than what a lot of "professionals" do for a living. The assembly line worker who built your car has a MUCH easier day than a burger flipper at McDonalds, but I guarantee you he/she makes a much better wage. Many of us don't have to spend our entire shift on our feet like FF workers, and we have occasions to mentally "check out" with a quick check of our phones, online news, social media, etc.

Bottom line, yes it's entry level work. But, it's certainly not a "cushy" job.

I don't know anything about assembly line work, but I have to imagine there's a mental factor here. It's a trade off, and I think just kind of proves the point.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

I never thought the $15 an hour for fast food workers movement would succeed. Surprising to me that it has in some areas. The push does come with unintended consequences.

Yep, like the price of everything going up, so the employers can still make a profit. . They make $15 an hour, the price of a Big Mac goes up to $7.50 for profit.
People like DH get screwed because they don't raise the middle class wages to compensate for the rise in cost of living. So, we can no longer afford to go buy that Big Mac.
Less hours available, which means smaller work schedules or less employees. Those who were fighting for that wage hike now have to work 2 or 3 jobs again, or keep getting public assistance, because there aren't enough hours for F/T, or the employer refuses to put anyone on F/T to avoid the insurance and OT issues.
And I won't even go into the people that really don't want to work, but only do so for short periods of time so that they can keep those benefits which pay out more; they take the place of people that truly want to work, cost time and money to train, and then they quit or doing things to get fired as soon as they can.

All raising the wage to $15 does is screw everyone who doesn't work in the those jobs.

FTR: I worked at McDonalds. I worked there in high school, making minimum wage for the first 2 months. Then I got a raise because I busted my behind. I would go in at 5am, make the biscuits for the day(if this tells you how long ago it was, the biscuits were still made from a mix, rolled and hand cut, then baked. Nowadays, they are frozen/prebaked and just reheated). Then I'd go to school, come back after school and do my homework there. Start back to work about 5 and work until 8 or 9. I was working about 30 hours a week.

Then after things happened, I went back to working there...for 6 years. Started again as crew, and worked my way up into management. I supported two kids and myself working at McD's. DD#1's first dad was beyond useless, so no help there. DD#2's dad (my husband...we weren't married when we had her) was working entry level job in his chosen career, and wasn't making what I was as a manager. He covered her insurance (better than mine) and daycare (which my sister did, and only charged me $50 a week for both kids, plus all their meals, yes, she was helping us). Those skills I learned there helped me get a management job at Chipotle, and from there to Johnny Rockets, and on and on.

Unless you are in management, fast food jobs are not meant to be a career. They aren't meant for moms of 3 to support their kids on. They are meant for kids who are first starting out, to learn how to function in a workplace, earn a little money to pay for movies and girlfriends.
ETA: You want to make more money, either bust your behind and get moved up in your workplace, or go get a degree. Stomping your feet and shouting that you are worth more doesn't show that you are.

 

[mnrose]

Yep, like the price of everything going up, so the employers can still make a profit. . They make $15 an hour, the price of a Big Mac goes up to $7.50 for profit.
People like DH get screwed because they don't raise the middle class wages to compensate for the rise in cost of living. So, we can no longer afford to go buy that Big Mac.
Less hours available, which means smaller work schedules or less employees. Those who were fighting for that wage hike now have to work 2 or 3 jobs again, or keep getting public assistance, because there aren't enough hours for F/T, or the employer refuses to put anyone on F/T to avoid the insurance and OT issues.
And I won't even go into the people that really don't want to work, but only do so for short periods of time so that they can keep those benefits which pay out more; they take the place of people that truly want to work, cost time and money to train, and then they quit or doing things to get fired as soon as they can.

All raising the wage to $15 does is screw everyone who doesn't work in the those jobs.

FTR: I worked at McDonalds. I worked there in high school, making minimum wage for the first 2 months. Then I got a raise because I busted my behind. I would go in at 5am, make the biscuits for the day(if this tells you how long ago it was, the biscuits were still made from a mix, rolled and hand cut, then baked. Nowadays, they are frozen/prebaked and just reheated). Then I'd go to school, come back after school and do my homework there. Start back to work about 5 and work until 8 or 9. I was working about 30 hours a week.

Then after things happened, I went back to working there...for 6 years. Started again as crew, and worked my way up into management. I supported two kids and myself working at McD's. DD#1's first dad was beyond useless, so no help there. DD#2's dad (my husband...we weren't married when we had her) was working entry level job in his chosen career, and wasn't making what I was as a manager. He covered her insurance (better than mine) and daycare (which my sister did, and only charged me $50 a week for both kids, plus all their meals, yes, she was helping us). Those skills I learned there helped me get a management job at Chipotle, and from there to Johnny Rockets, and on and on.

Unless you are in management, fast food jobs are not meant to be a career. They aren't meant for moms of 3 to support their kids on. They are meant for kids who are first starting out, to learn how to function in a workplace, earn a little money to pay for movies and girlfriends.
ETA: You want to make more money, either bust your behind and get moved up in your workplace, or go get a degree. Stomping your feet and shouting that you are worth more doesn't show that you are.

Really? The minimum wage in Seattle IS $15. Pretty certain that a Big Mac costs less than $7.50. Actually, it's $4.46, whereas in New York City, it's $4.60 (no $15 minimum wage requirement). This argument is simply wrong. If the minimum wage goes up $5, it doesn't raise the price of everything $5! That assumes that the ONE worker makes ONE product in an hour, which is absurd. How many burgers are made in an hour at a McDonalds? I'd hesitate to even guess....but if there are 10 workers, and they each made $5 an hour more, then that $50 in extra cost is spread over ALL the burgers, shakes, sodas, and fries sold in that store in a hour. Meaning WAY, WAY less than $1 per item....probably less than 25 cents per item...assuming they push out 200 items in an hour (not hard to imagine at all, right?).

The flip side is that that worker now has a LOT more disposable income...and since they are at the bottom of the economic spectrum, they spend that money. They buy more groceries, they buy more clothes, they go to more movies. All this helps local businesses, raising their sales and their income. Within reason, raises in the minimum wage HELP our economy, not hurt it.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Yep, like the price of everything going up, so the employers can still make a profit. . They make $15 an hour, the price of a Big Mac goes up to $7.50 for profit.
People like DH get screwed because they don't raise the middle class wages to compensate for the rise in cost of living. So, we can no longer afford to go buy that Big Mac.
Less hours available, which means smaller work schedules or less employees. Those who were fighting for that wage hike now have to work 2 or 3 jobs again, or keep getting public assistance, because there aren't enough hours for F/T, or the employer refuses to put anyone on F/T to avoid the insurance and OT issues.
And I won't even go into the people that really don't want to work, but only do so for short periods of time so that they can keep those benefits which pay out more; they take the place of people that truly want to work, cost time and money to train, and then they quit or doing things to get fired as soon as they can.

All raising the wage to $15 does is screw everyone who doesn't work in the those jobs.

FTR: I worked at McDonalds. I worked there in high school, making minimum wage for the first 2 months. Then I got a raise because I busted my behind. I would go in at 5am, make the biscuits for the day(if this tells you how long ago it was, the biscuits were still made from a mix, rolled and hand cut, then baked. Nowadays, they are frozen/prebaked and just reheated). Then I'd go to school, come back after school and do my homework there. Start back to work about 5 and work until 8 or 9. I was working about 30 hours a week.

Then after things happened, I went back to working there...for 6 years. Started again as crew, and worked my way up into management. I supported two kids and myself working at McD's. DD#1's first dad was beyond useless, so no help there. DD#2's dad (my husband...we weren't married when we had her) was working entry level job in his chosen career, and wasn't making what I was as a manager. He covered her insurance (better than mine) and daycare (which my sister did, and only charged me $50 a week for both kids, plus all their meals, yes, she was helping us). Those skills I learned there helped me get a management job at Chipotle, and from there to Johnny Rockets, and on and on.

Unless you are in management, fast food jobs are not meant to be a career. They aren't meant for moms of 3 to support their kids on. They are meant for kids who are first starting out, to learn how to function in a workplace, earn a little money to pay for movies and girlfriends.
ETA: You want to make more money, either bust your behind and get moved up in your workplace, or go get a degree. Stomping your feet and shouting that you are worth more doesn't show that you are.

I completely agree with everything you said, but in regard to the bolded -

Well, it even screws them in a way too, or at least evens out the playing field for those using it as a means of making a living because now that they make $15.00/hour, they will be subject to the $800/mo apartment instead of the $550/mo they are paying now, or the $7.00 nuggets rather then the $4.00 they are paying now.

The only ones who will come out ahead are the teenagers who are living at home and using a FF job for spending money while mom and dad pay for everything else.

The rest of us - those who are solidly in the "middle class" get screwed big time. DH and I make a low-six figure income (but live in a really high cost of living area) and I can promise you that our employers are not going to give us a cost of living increase just so we can afford a $8.50 Quarter-Pounder.

and FYI - we live within 10 miles of one of the biggest FF chains' World Headquarters. Even the FF workers around here don't make $15.00/hour.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

Really? The minimum wage in Seattle IS $15. Pretty certain that a Big Mac costs less than $7.50. Actually, it's $4.46, whereas in New York City, it's $4.60 (no $15 minimum wage requirement). This argument is simply wrong. If the minimum wage goes up $5, it doesn't raise the price of everything $5! That assumes that the ONE worker makes ONE product in an hour, which is absurd. How many burgers are made in an hour at a McDonalds? I'd hesitate to even guess....but if there are 10 workers, and they each made $5 an hour more, then that $50 in extra cost is spread over ALL the burgers, shakes, sodas, and fries sold in that store in a hour. Meaning WAY, WAY less than $1 per item....probably less than 25 cents per item...assuming they push out 200 items in an hour (not hard to imagine at all, right?).

The flip side is that that worker now has a LOT more disposable income...and since they are at the bottom of the economic spectrum, they spend that money. They buy more groceries, they buy more clothes, they go to more movies. All this helps local businesses, raising their sales and their income. Within reason, raises in the minimum wage HELP our economy, not hurt it.

Yes, and when the bottom tier worker makes more money, they can afford more consumable goods, demand goes up, supply goes down, prices go up.

Then rent goes up. Then the McDouble $ goes up. Then the $15.00/hr doesn't stretch as far.

And the person making $22.00/hr before the min wage increase who didn't get a raise gets screwed.

Voila! Now there are more poor people than middle class.

 

[mnrose]

Yes, and when the bottom tier worker makes more money, they can afford more consumable goods, demand goes up, supply goes down, prices go up.

Then rent goes up. Then the McDouble $ goes up. Then the $15.00/hr doesn't stretch as far.

And the person making $22.00/hr before the min wage increase who didn't get a raise gets screwed.

Voila! Now there are more poor people than middle class.

This has never been shown in practice. It's the opposite. A rising tide rises all boats sort of thing. This country was not built on the rich buying more yachts and houses. It was built on a stable, and thriving middle class. Which comes from keeping the minimum wage in a sustainable level. The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation for a long time. Fact.

 

[declansdad]

Twice I have gone to one our local Tim Horton's and ordered 18 muffins. No word of lie I was told they only came in packs of 6 and 12.

Yup fast food workers deserve to be paid a minimum of $15 an hour.

 

[Lilacs4Me]

This has never been shown in practice. It's the opposite. A rising tide rises all boats sort of thing. This country was not built on the rich buying more yachts and houses. It was built on a stable, and thriving middle class. Which comes from keeping the minimum wage in a sustainable level. The minimum wage has not kept pace with inflation for a long time. Fact.

Tell that to all of the companies who pay their college-educated non-entry level workers $20.00-25.00/hr. They would have to be on board with this, and give their employees a comparable raise as well, for it to work as you claim.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Really? The minimum wage in Seattle IS $15. Pretty certain that a Big Mac costs less than $7.50. Actually, it's $4.46, whereas in New York City, it's $4.60 (no $15 minimum wage requirement). This argument is simply wrong. If the minimum wage goes up $5, it doesn't raise the price of everything $5! That assumes that the ONE worker makes ONE product in an hour, which is absurd. How many burgers are made in an hour at a McDonalds? I'd hesitate to even guess....but if there are 10 workers, and they each made $5 an hour more, then that $50 in extra cost is spread over ALL the burgers, shakes, sodas, and fries sold in that store in a hour. Meaning WAY, WAY less than $1 per item....probably less than 25 cents per item...assuming they push out 200 items in an hour (not hard to imagine at all, right?).

The flip side is that that worker now has a LOT more disposable income...and since they are at the bottom of the economic spectrum, they spend that money. They buy more groceries, they buy more clothes, they go to more movies. All this helps local businesses, raising their sales and their income. Within reason, raises in the minimum wage HELP our economy, not hurt it.

It's NOT $15 an hour yet.
http://murray.seattle.gov/minimumwage/

he new minimum wage legislation passed by Seattle City Council and signed into law by Mayor Murray provides for an increase in the minimum wage in the City of Seattle to $15 an hour, phased in over time, beginning April 2015:

• Small employers (businesses with fewer than 500 employees) will reach a $15 an hour minimum wage in seven years. Also established is a temporary guaranteed minimum compensation responsibility of $15 an hour to be met within the first five years, which can be achived by combining employer-paid health care contributions, consumer-paid tips, and employer-paid wages.
• Large employers (businesses with 500 or more employees, either in Seattle or nationally) will reach $15 per hour in three years. The wages of employees who receive health care benefits will reach $15 per hour in four years.

Schedule 1 won't be $15 until 1/1/17 (current $13)
Schedule 2 won't be until 2018 (current $12.50)
Schedule 2 minimum compensation won't be until 2019 (currently $12)

Seattle has declared a crisis situation about homelessness.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/seattle-homeless-emergency_us_56392c7fe4b0411d306eb2eb
Maybe the fast food places can hire those homeless people, eh?

That wage, btw, is for Seattle. The rest of Washington? $9.47
http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

Twice I have gone to one our local Tim Horton's and ordered 18 muffins. No word of lie I was told they only came in packs of 6 and 12.

Yup fast food workers deserve to be paid a minimum of $15 an hour.

Yeah, when I order a burger only ketchup, and get nothing but the bun and the ketchup...not the meat...I truly wonder why they think they're worth $15 an hour.

People, these entry jobs are just meant to be that. Entry to the workforce.
You know who needs to make more than $15 an hour? Police officers, firemen, military, EMTs, nurses, teachers. In same areas they do, some areas they don't...and they should. Those people are a heck of a lot more important to our nation than the guy going "you want fries with that?".

 

[mjkacmom]

I completely agree with everything you said, but in regard to the bolded -

Well, it even screws them in a way too, or at least evens out the playing field for those using it as a means of making a living because now that they make $15.00/hour, they will be subject to the $800/mo apartment instead of the $550/mo they are paying now, or the $7.00 nuggets rather then the $4.00 they are paying now.

The only ones who will come out ahead are the teenagers who are living at home and using a FF job for spending money while mom and dad pay for everything else.

The rest of us - those who are solidly in the "middle class" get screwed big time. DH and I make a low-six figure income (but live in a really high cost of living area) and I can promise you that our employers are not going to give us a cost of living increase just so we can afford a $8.50 Quarter-Pounder.

and FYI - we live within 10 miles of one of the biggest FF chains' World Headquarters. Even the FF workers around here don't make $15.00/hour.

Where do you live where you can even find a one bedroom apartment for $800 a month? Never mind $550. $15 an hour is 31,000. That's pretty low, I can't imagine living in half that.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Yup, and several Walmarts around here now have only 2-3 actual cashier lanes, the rest are self check out.

Several of the stores in our area added self serve checkout a couple years ago. We always used them, because it was faster. Unfortunately, they've almost all disappeared. We're guessing there was too much theft involved, when trusting people to actually pay for what they got.

I don't expect customers aided by machines to replace employees completely. Sadly, some customers just aren't honest & need to be watched closely. Others aren't smart enough to place their own order, pay without help, etc. There will always be a need for employees to guide some customers through the process. They can always run with a skeleton crew, but I wouldn't expect the business to run as efficiently as it previously did. The same customers who complain about employees will then be complaining about people not being able to use the machines efficiently. Eliminating people isn't always the answer, plus it would really hurt the economy.

 

[Planogirl]

I support all workers trying to get more pay. I see nothing wrong with a pay raise even though jumping to $15 an hour seems like a lot. I won't resent those people who would like to earn more though just like I won't resent the office worker or manager or anyone who pushes for more.

I also don't look down on fast food workers. They might be older workers trying to supplement their income or someone who was laid off or someone who just isn't cut out for college. You never know what their story is.

 

[declansdad]

I support all workers trying to get more pay. I see nothing wrong with a pay raise even though jumping to $15 an hour seems like a lot. I won't resent those people who would like to earn more though just like I won't resent the office worker or manager or anyone who pushes for more.

I also don't look down on fast food workers. They might be older workers trying to supplement their income or someone who was laid off or someone who just isn't cut out for college. You never know what their story is.

Not looking down on them but entry level, low skilled jobs don't warrant $15 per hour.

 

[Planogirl]

Not looking down on them but entry level, low skilled jobs don't warrant $15 per hour.

I did mention that $15 seemed high however I do think the minimum wage should be raised.

 

[declansdad]

I did mention that $15 seemed high however I do think the minimum wage should be raised.

If minimum wage is raised, all other corresponding wages and salaries should be raised as well.