By Joyce Rosenberg
Associated Press, April 13, 2016
NEW YORK (AP) — In the aftermath of California and New York becoming the first states to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15, some small businesses with hourly workers are rethinking how they can absorb the increase. ... California and Massachusetts have the highest statewide minimum wages at $10. California and New York this month became the first states to pass laws mandating that a statewide $15 minimum be phased in over the next few years. ...
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. workers paid at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour work in retailing or the leisure and hospitality industries, which include fast-food restaurants, according to the Labor Department. ...
But because minimum wage hikes are being phased in, companies have time to prepare. ...
In Washington D.C., Michael Lastoria is preparing for a higher minimum by giving his pizza chain staffers raises to as much as $15 an hour. The minimum in the city will be $11.50 as of July 1 and then rise annually with inflation. The staffers at &pizza will all earn $12 an hour by July 1, including brand-new employees.
"We've done everything in our power to get ahead of the curve," says Lastoria, CEO of the chain that has 20 restaurants, including seven inside Washington.
Lastoria's company can absorb the higher labor costs because it has solid revenue growth, he says. ...
In Seattle, which began phasing in a $15 minimum wage last year, Renee Erickson and her partners have given workers at their four seafood restaurants raises that brought everyone to at least $15 an hour. That meant raising prices 10 percent, but the owners decided it was important to create a positive atmosphere for their workers.
"We just went ahead and did it right away. There's no reason to slowly implement it," Erickson says.
Copyright 2016 Associated Press