Could Minimum Wage Is Increasing During COVID Be Too Much For Some Small Businesses?
Written by Site Hub on December 17, 2020
New York’s minimum wage is set to increase fro $11.80 to $12.50 an hour at the end of the year. 2020 will mark year 5 of the 5 year plan to give businesses time to adjust to the increase and the New York State Department of Labor has confirmed that it will take affect indefinitely.
GOP Leader Senator Robert Ortt thinks there should be a pause put on the increase this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. He argues that small businesses are already struggling to stay above water and giving everyone a raise at the same time will crush their budget.
Ross Mueller owns Mueller Restaurant Group, which includes Market Native Restaurant downtown and Label 7 in Pittsford.
He gave a statement, saying:
“Even when a staff member drops something as simple as a to-go container, that costs us money, I don’t yell at anybody ever it’s more just a reminder to the staff. I think there’s a better way to do it, especially with COVID.”
Senator Ortt also weighed in, saying:
“It’s written in the legislation, it clearly said there would be a review about how this was impacting what the state of economy was before it could go up,” he said. “Nobody could look at the upstate economy … and say it’s healthy today.”
Source:
RochesterFirst.com
