minimum wage job

[tea4me]

I know this subject has probably been discussed before, but I don't remember for sure:

Do you think a minimum wage job is better than no job at all?

I am talking about no unemployment, nothing, zero income.

If I were in the situation, I believe I would take a minimum wage job just to have something coming in.

(I was reading an article on MSN Money about McDonalds adding a bunch of jobs, that is what got me thinking about this.)

[azphx1972]

Sure. It beats starving.

[Deleted]

I say it depends... if you are getting unemployment or have enough savings I say focus on finding a full time job.
If it was like my case 2 years ago: no unemployment, savings running low after 9 months and bills to pay. It was a no brainer: minimum wage job it was, at one point I had two (grocery clerk during the day and UPS loader/unloader at night for 5 hours)

[Savoir Faire-Demogague in NJ]

When individuals start work at a minimum wage job, they stay at that wage for an average of six months. At that point, they get an increase or move on to greener pastures.

All of us here have worked low paying jobs at various points in our career.

[Deleted]

Something is better than nothing...

[tea4me]

Some of the comments on MSN Money's FB wall sounded like the people could care less if there were going to be minimum wage jobs open at McDonalds. I thought it sounded better than no job.

[straydog]

Yes it is. continually working keeps one on their toes.

If your forced by the bad economy to go into the service sector, then at least try to go for a job where you get tips (waiting on tables/pizza delivery). If not, then deliver papers in the morning along with that Mcjob. I was able to save a small fortune by delivering pizza, but this was before the financial collapse, things might be different now.

[Deleted]

I read that most of the McDonald's jobs were going to be part-time. That means even lower salary, no benefits, etc.

I guess I'd take it if the alternative was starving, but that would have to be the alternative. I certainly couldn't pay rent and eat. And don't do the trite "you can live with a roommate" etc. At age 57 I wouldn't begin to know where to find a roommate.

I'd probably live in my daughter's basement and keep her kids so I could eat instead. That would definitely be her last choice, though.

[stats45]

There are opportunities to move up, even in bad jobs. In college, I moved from 'bad job' to 'bad job' building up a resume, and by the time I left college I was in a pretty good position, making around $35k. That isn't amazing money, but mobility is possible even in these jobs.

You can move from part-time to full-time to shift-leader to assistant manager to whatever. The first couple of steps in general are usually pretty quick (from my observation) if you have any drive to do more than the minimum required. It wasn't odd in any place I worked to see people moved from an hourly employee making minimum wage 20 hours a week to a shift leader or assistant manager making $3 or $4 more than with nearly 40 hours a week. This might not sound like much, but it is the difference between taking home $140 a week to taking home $350 a week. At that point, you have a bit of a title and some experience, and you can look to move up in that company or try to see if there is someone else who will hire you.

[stats45]

For the most part patstab, workers making commission who are doing 'inside sales' (meaning they are working in Sears rather than selling vitamins door to door) are required to be paid minimum wage. If their commissions do not put them at a higher pay than minimum wage, they are paid minimum wage for hours worked. They are also still subject to overtime if applicable as well.

[cronewitch]

I would be very fussy about minimum wage work. I am 62 with a bad knee and bad ankle so standing more than 50% of the day would be too much for me.

I would do something easy like managing a motel even if it paid less. My brother does that free rent and about 1,500 a month works about 2 hours day has 60 rooms but several assistants since he trains for the chain. Super easy work that doesn't pay much but he has his pension and when he retires from this he will have about 3,500 a month to live on. He may retire to Thailand since he knows how to read and write Thai and lived there before.

I won't ever need to work minimum wage and haven't since about 1974 when I landed my first bookkeeping job making 85 a week when minimum wage was 1.85 I think it might have been $2.

[suziq38]

I once took a job working at a bank for $9.00 an hour.
That was rough. Long hours, low respect, and you had to balance your money, LOL.
I just was not good at it and had to leave for a better job.

[straydog]

SS:
At age 57 I wouldn't begin to know where to find a roommate.

SD:
I found this site when I was thinking about leaving my current residence and moving back to N.Y..

www.roommates.com

[straydog]

PS:
But the one salesmen said to the other, you buying me lunch tomorrow? I said you guys get commission I hope. He said that's all we get, not pay 100% commission. OH MY GOD! How in the world could you survive like that? I'm sure it used to be different, but you basically work at some big company all day for NO money. To me that's plain crazy.

SD: I worked a job like that once, but it was selling pre-arranged funerals. After about two months and just a few small sales-I went back to selling furniture. It's a good thing that I was staying with family at the time and had low expenses-or I would have been in big trouble.

[973beachbum]

Apr 4, 2011 21:56:49 GMT -5 stats45 said:

For the most part patstab, workers making commission who are doing 'inside sales' (meaning they are working in Sears rather than selling vitamins door to door) are required to be paid minimum wage. If their commissions do not put them at a higher pay than minimum wage, they are paid minimum wage for hours worked. They are also still subject to overtime if applicable as well.

I used to be a commission only sales person and this is sort of true. They are required by law to make sure all employees make at least minimum wage every week for the hours they are technically working. But for most 100% commission salespeople this is mearly a draw and not a salary. Short answer any amount of draw they recieve is automatically deducted from any future commissions they earn. They can deduct each week till paid off while not allowing any weeks pay to go below that mimum wage thresh hold. A couple of bad weeks for the company can quickly translate into a bad month for the sales person.

A draw differs from a loan in one way. If they sale person is fired or quits they are not required to pay any unapid draw back.

[Clifford]

I'd work minimum wage in a heartbeat if I had no substantial EF.
Like others have mentioned, I'd try to make it nights or weekends so I could interview during normal work hours. Not having experience that would make me feel differently, I would work minimum wage even if I was eligible for unemployment benefits.

[Anne_in_VA]

But with the current economy some companies like McD won't hire obviously over-qualified people. A few years ago I was out of work for over a year and had applied for jobs I was qualified for while on UE. After UE ran out I began applying for all kinds of jobs including fast food, retail, etc. No one would hire me!

It's great to say "Go get a minimum wage job", but if they won't hire you, you're SOL.

[Deleted]

In general, my thoughts are in line with most posters. I don't think I'm too good for a minimum wage job, and you do what you have to do to get by.

That said I would want to know how that minimum wage job would affect my overall situation. If I had a medical issue or was supporting someone who had one, I'd want to make sure I wasn't earning just enough to make myself ineligible for Medicaid without actually earning enough to afford health care on my own.