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Advantage Payroll Services founder Rob Basso argues it's not the right time to raise minimum wage.
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-- Obama in his state of the union speech last night proposing an increase in the federal minimum wage.
Tonight.
Let's declare that in the wealthiest nation -- No one who works full time should have to live in poverty and raise the federal minimum wage to nine dollars an hour.
So is boosting the minimum wage -- dollar 75 an hour really going to keep people out of poverty.
-- highways is just mean higher unemployment -- bass says the owner of advantage payroll services and he joins us with his take.
See you have the advantage of talking to many many many small business owners because of your payrolls are correct.
And what do they tell you because ideas like as you know it's it's it's noble to say that we want people to make more than they can spend more they can boost the economy because -- they would.
Unfortunately this money doesn't come.
From a money tree while the rhetoric is great and everybody loves to hear the president United States say.
Everybody should earn more first off.
I don't believe that the minimum wage was set.
To be a permanent wage for someone it was supposed to be a starting platform to further your career further move move your earnings along it was never meant to be a permanent wage unfortunately.
There are many Americans that.
Don't have the skills and -- -- to move beyond that wage because of their education level so there's a lot of things at play here it's not just the dollar amount but if I look at my client base let's take an example.
One of my clients has about 67 employees -- ice cream shop.
If you raise the minimum raise to nine bucks an hour -- they're gonna have 141000.
Dollars of additional expenses.
They're barely making profit as it is if you he's 141000 back coat of ice cream -- -- question six dollar.
Or I mean the other option is that -- -- 141000 dollars has to come from somewhere they can cut back every -- hours.
See your paycheck is the same you're just working fewer hours they can fire an employee.
And that's exactly what will happen I spoke to many of my clients and that's what they -- they would do.
They would lower the amount hours that individual's work if this was mandated to go up to nine dollars an hour.
Think about how many institution many places you do business with that have basic and what I'm with minimum wage earning individuals -- make a big impact.
-- and unity argument that the other side always tries to make -- I have this conversation is.
Well people are making more they'll spend more so that ice cream shop owner he's gonna have so much more business because the people on his block.
We'll have more money to spend because they will have a bigger paycheck so he's gonna make more -- and give it to their employees what you're saying is false one thing I.
I have I've I've not seen that ever happen in practice so you can say that and it's a and it's a nice argument I'd love to see it in black and white the reality is if you take more business and more money.
Out of the small business -- pockets.
On the economy is not gonna grow -- the -- it needs to.
Mean last month we added about a 150 some thousand jobs we 300000.
Jobs on average to can be considered self crawling out of this mess that we created for ourselves in this.
Even feel like this is turning into president Obama's war on that ice cream shop owner because that is the same person that he only has six employees but -- he owns multiple franchises if it's at a restaurant owner.
-- forbid he has more than fifty employees all of a sudden he's also being subjected to obamacare and ask you decide does he pay for health care.
We're -- cut back on their workers are on workers' hours because of that.
And and unfortunately they're going to be cutting back on the workers' pay to pay for this platform of Obama -- -- but there there's also bigger issue here play Americans like are cheap labor we like getting things for less.
So the reality is a lot of small business owners hire undocumented workers because they can't even afford to pay the minimum wage to keep their businesses up and running is -- rampant problem that I see not only -- my client base but this region in general.
What are your clients telling you about what it's like out there right now are things getting better.
Things are getting better -- a modest way I would say that people are more optimistic than they were just a few months ago I'm not sure how they're feeling after his speech last night because anybody who you know really follows these these realizes this was just his rallying call and his and you know flag for the Democratic Party.
On the reality is I have seen things get a little bit better my clients on average have one and a half more checks printing than they did last year so the economy is moving in a positive direction and I can directly see that in the numbers in my payroll do they feel like Washington is helping -- -- thwarting.
I'll I think they're thwarting them I think this they feel that they're being.
Regulated into oblivion and I believe.
That they feel that the government is not their friend right now I -- you look at New York State alone there's something called the wage theft prevention act more regulation for small business owners actually have to comply with.
It's a problem every time they spend time on on these types of things -- money away from their business -- thanks so much for coming on.
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