By Kitty McConnell
Manta, April 8, 2016
... Despite the opposition put forth by big business groups and chambers of commerce, a new Manta poll shows a majority of small business owners actually support higher minimum wages for workers. In fact, many small business owners already pay their employees more than is required by law.
Manta’s poll reveals that 59% of small business owners are in favor of a higher minimum wage. The same percentage of small business owners said they are “more likely to vote for a state or national candidate who supports a minimum wage increase.”
Poll results indicate that 40% of small business owners pay entry-level employees “far above” the required minimum wages in their areas of operation; 38% report paying “slightly above” minimum wage; and 14% said they pay state or local minimum wages that are above the $7.25 hourly wage required under federal law.
“We’ve been in business 24 years, and we’ve always paid our employees above minimum wage,” said Dave Titterington, owner of Wild Bird Habitat Stores of Lincoln, Nebraska. The birdfeeder and accessories retailer has two locations and is working on opening a third.
“We’re very specialized, which is one of the reasons I can’t just hire someone off the street to perform our business,” he said. “We’ve done very well, even though we’re paying above minimum wage.”
Titterington said that when Nebraska raised the state’s minimum wage to $9 an hour in January, he raised his employees’ pay to $11 an hour.
“A lot of our customers end up developing relationships with our employees. Why would I want to jeopardize that by paying somebody as little as we can get away with?”
By paying above minimum, Wild Bird Habitat retains employees. That low turnover means operating savings. ...
Poll methodology: Manta surveyed 2,409 small business owners via on-site poll between April 1 and April 4, 2016. The margin of error is +/- 2.0 percentage points.
Copyright 2016 Manta Media