According to a poll conducted last week by BLR, most (73%) of the 355 responding companies indicated that they would not be affected by an increase of the federal minimum wage to $7.25. A small number responded that either staff or benefits would have to be reduced to offset the wage increase. Poll results summarized below:
Question: If the federal minimum wage increased to $7.25 would your company be affected?
- No (73%)
- Yes, we'd raise wages for some hourly workers (19%)
- Yes, we'd cut benefits or staff to offset higher wages (4%)
- Yes, we'd raise wages for all hourly workers (3%)
My guess is that this poll probably represents mostly medium to large sized employers, rather than small businesses. It would be interesting to see how a sample of small business respondents compared to these results. I'll keep my eye out.
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