On March 28, the Maryland House of Delegates voted to override Governor Hogan’s veto to pass a minimum wage increase bill. The bill will go into effect at the beginning of 2020 at $11 per hour. It will then increase by $0.75 per hour each year, reaching $14 per hour in 2024, and finally $15 per hour in 2025.
Small business owners will now pay more to hire a new person – and by default pay more for each employee they already have. A higher minimum wage will mean employers will be unable to pay higher-performing employees the wage they deserve, because there will be less money available for payroll in general.
The entry level employee you might pay $21,008 per year right now will cost $31,200 per year five years from now. Where will that money come from? Will your customers be willing to pay more for goods and services to accommodate your ever-increasing payroll?
Smart employers should take a good, hard look at how they can decrease their employment costs. Labor is one of the most expensive costs incurred by small business owners. If you could hire an employee and be guaranteed he or she would excel in your company, this wage increase might not be so difficult to face. But the labor shortage will continue. Employees will be hired, and trained, and fired, and lost, over and over and over again – wasting considerable money and resources.
But there is an alternative!
When you hire Focus to handle your administrative assistant duties – answering the phone, making appointments, answering questions, giving first level help desk assistance – you have an educated, dependable team at your disposal:
- Our professionals will learn exactly what you want for your callers and deliver that level of service flawlessly.
- You pay ONLY for the actual productive minutes our team spends working for you.
Consolidating labor will make a difference in your bottom line and in the headaches that are involved in finding the right person for the job and keeping them.
A $15 per hour employee will need breaks, vacations, and sick leave. They will chat with friends, make dates, fill in their brackets, and discuss the games – all on YOUR time. You can’t make your in-house employees account for every minute you are paying them. In fact, the law says you sometimes have to pay them to do nothing.
When you hire Focus as your “employee,” we work every minute you pay for. It’s documented, recorded, and delivered. And it’s cost-effective! Talk with us today. We might just be a perfect fit.