Is it good employer strategy to pay my employees just enough so that they can't save money, so that they can never walk away from the job? - eviltoast

Is it good employer strategy to pay my employees just enough so that they can’t save money, so that they can never walk away from the job?

Like, there is a threshold where if they are able to save X per month, they will eventually use that against you and quit at an inopportune time?

And if that threshold falls below state mandated minimum wage, what steps can be taken to mitigate this?

  • LunchMoneyThief@links.hackliberty.orgOPEnglish
    110·
    2 months ago

    Nobody has really answered the last part of my question. I’m not asking whether or not this is ethical, I’m asking how can I keep the employees who don’t leave in a state of perception where they think I’m ready to fire and replace them at any moment. I don’t want them to realize their position and leverage it against me.

    I’ve been thinking about holding the promise of upping wage by a dollar and to keep pushing out the date as means of helping them realize how easy their work is. I’m not going to allow non-committed hires to devour the value of my business over what amounts to easy work. They know it’s easy work.

    • Kelly@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      2 months ago

      What steps can be taken to mitigate this?

      Be an employer of choice. What can you do to make people want to work with you, not out of necessity but because you are better than the alternatives. (Pro tip: if you’re paying the lowest rate you’re allowed to without braking the law you better be offering some other incentive)

    • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
      2·
      2 months ago

      I’ll bite.

      Don’t make it related to pay. Make them WANT to work there, and then put a bunch of employment requirements into the contract that sound reasonable but can’t all be done AND accomplish the job.

      At that point, all your employees are in breach of contract and you can just investigate and fire anyone who doesn’t seem to be providing value.

      You’ll get a few people who position themselves as unfireable anyway, and some people who it will be difficult to prove they broke the contract. And if you fire people too often, you’ll again have retention issues.

      Maybe the value of your business isn’t as much as you think it is, or you’re not charging enough for what you sell….