Discrimination and Wage Issues in the Workplace

American employees are struggling. I’d like to explain two major issues ongoing in America. The first being minimum wage. America’s minimum wage does not align with other countries and for many people does not seem fair. State by state it is different and needs to be stable for the sake of our employees. Secondly, Many African American employees are experiencing discrimination in the workforce to this day. African Americans are paid, treated, and scheduled poorly simply because of the color of their skin. I would like to propose political and personal action on helping our country.

First, Spencer robbins mention in the reading, ¨Are eaters the key to better restaurant wages and working conditions?¨, how the elimination of giving monetary gratitude or giving tips to restaurant workers could assist in making jobs more stable for African Americans. He says doing that will help regulate pay for those workers better since they make tipping wage + tips usually, this would help give them a set amount to expect per pay period. Another argument he mentions is that white employees make more than employees of color because people tend to tip white workers more so solidifying a set wage could help stop that. I chose this article because I have worked at a restaurant and was given a tipping wage + tips. In my situation I didn’t mind because I would average at about 10 or 11 dollars an hour compared to minimum wage, I’ll take it. But I remember I’d work with people of color who would make about 5–10 dollars less than me a paycheck.

Second, In the article ¨Can You Pay That?! Federal and State Tipped Minimum Wage Rates¨ by Rachel Blakley- Gray, says that in some states the tipping wage is $2.13 such as Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, etc. I strongly believe if you work 40 hours a week, you deserve to earn a livable wage. And I don’t care where you work. If you are an American and you spend most of your week doing something productive for our society, I firmly believe you should be able to afford to live here. I agree with my second article as well. I don’t think there is a reason to not be able to afford to live in the US if you are trying to. I think it’s a wage issue as much as it’s an effort-based issue. If we aren’t trying to progress in our work then we can make minimum wage all our lives. In my opinion, if you’re making minimum wage past your mid-20s it’s your issue.

Minimum wage jobs are supposed to be stepping stones, not careers. As for my first article, I don’t agree with the tipping wages in some states. 2.13 seems like not even minimum wage with tips. Tipping wage has to equal minimum wage when you add tips. The whole incentive to tipping jobs is the possibility to make more than minimum wage. So the possibility that your making almost 200 dollars a week in tips is slim therefore it would be illegal to make that wage. In comparison to other countries, America’s minimum tipping wage is insanely unacceptable for example in the articles ¨Minimum Wage¨ and ¨Real Minimum Wages,¨ linked below it states that the United States of America is not even one of the top ten countries with the highest minimum wage. Even though according to ¨Richest Countries in the world¨ linked, the US is one of the top 10 richest countries in the world. In the richest and best paying country, Luxembourg, the minimum wage is $13.78 an hour as opposed to United States’ $7.25 an hour. The reason this is relevant is that the monetary value in our economy is lowering and the wage isn´t changing. 7.25 ten-fifteen years ago was a good starting wage but now it seems illegal. That’s also why you see businesses like Chick-Fil-A and McDonald’s paying over the countries minimum wage now. Those businesses know that 7.25 wouldn’t be morally correct to their employees.

Also, the tipping/tipped wage is very different per country. Some countries don’t even do tipping wages. That’s why some employees won’t be able to accept tips. This usually means they’re being paid hourly only. They are being paid a specific amount hourly. This also affects my argument of the difference in income for white employees versus black employees because if the united states would cut out tipping wages employees wouldn’t have to worry about racist customers. The tipping wage in each state of the US is also crazy to look at. For example in the article ¨ Tipped Minimum Wage: Federal Rate and Rates by State (Chart).¨ it says that the following states pay tippable workers $2.13 an hour, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, Utah, North Carolina, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Virginia, South Carolina, and Tennesee. The employees in these states who can accept tips only get paid $2.13 by their employers. In these states, employees make the regular minimum wage plus whatever they’ve been tipped, Alaska, Washington, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Oregon, and Montana. This means that tips for these employees are simply a bonus as they should be. The rest of our states have a set wage above $2.13 for example in Ohio it is $4.40 minimum plus tips.

Also in the source “Encountering Racism on the Job¨, Webster says, ¨ However, patients treating caregivers in a less-than-respectful manner is too often tolerated. Recently, one of my patients “fired” my nursing assistant because of the color of her skin... She came to me with tears of sadness and anger that she was rejected by this patient because of something she had no control over.¨ I believe that people of color are still being treated unfairly at work and are still being separated by today’s culture. These employees should be treated the same and not fired for very little reason. I chose this article to educate myself on other cultures and experiences that I don’t have to go through because of my skin color.

I agree with Kellermann in that that would be a lot of work to put on someone who is only making minimum wage. I chose this source because I’ve been researching the topic of minimum wage this whole assessment and I wanted to have a more professional look at it. I think as a human race the main people who care about these issues would be workers and people of color. I think they would care because they are directly affected by the discrimination in everyday jobs and the differences in wages/ minimum wage arguments. I also believe our economy and overall societal agreement are directly affected by these issues as well. These situations strike us daily. African American workers are being mistreated in the workforce every shift they take and it needs to end. Sadly the chances we rewire every worker’s brain to believe that their black COworker is just as important as them is slim. Also, the issue of whether the minimum wage is cruel or fair is ongoing as well. The chances we make everyone about that topic agree is also slim but we need to spread awareness about these things and look for advice. America isn’t the be-all-end-all of the countries and for some of our cultures, there are much better. We will become the best when we unite.

Some may say that maybe there is just a lack of work ethic in the African American community and maybe people are abusing minimum wage. African Americans have sadly been stereotyped as a community that is lacking employment and motivation. They could say that that is more of an explanation of the difference in income between white employees and black employees. I think the only way people could be abusing minimum wage is by looking at it as a career. The minimum wage is supposed to be a stepping stone to reach better-paying jobs. The reality is minimum wage is for teens and young adults mostly and these people who want to increase minimum wage want to make minimum wage comfortable when it’s not supposed to be. It’s supposed to make you want to pursue more than a restaurant job in your lifetime.

Lately, Covid-19 has made it more difficult for employees to progress within their jobs forcing them to stay at minimum wage. The article “Diverse Employees Are Struggling the Most during COVID-19 — Here’s How Companies Can Respond.” states that ¨Almost a year into the COVID-19 crisis, employees are still crying out for more support. Diverse groups — including women, LGBTQ+ employees, people of color, but also working parents — are having the hardest time, both in the workplace and with balancing work and home life…We discovered that workers across demographic groups and geographies reported a remarkably similar set of challenges related to mental health, work-life balance, workplace health and safety, a missing sense of connectivity and belonging with colleagues, and concerns about job opportunities.¨ These concerns with job opportunities are keeping the current employee at their payment level because these businesses can not afford to lose people in those positions and can not afford to pay the people working them any more than minimum wage which during this time seems impossible to live on considering the inflation and lessening of the value in our money. These diverse employees are being put through even more discrimination as covid-19 has evolved into this nationwide issue. Covid-19 has turned already overlooked and underpaid employees into overworked, overlooked, and severely underpaid employees. These essential workers have put in the time during this pandemic and sadly haven’t been compensated for it or been given the opportunity to make more than minimum wage in most cases. Which in some states and positions can be as little as $2.13 an hour. Covid-19 has affected every job out there but has really taken its toll on people making tipping and minimum wage.

In conclusion, We as a country need to unite and resolve these issues. While it doesn’t affect every citizen it affects many. We need to resolve minimum wage and tipping wage issues in some states and make working an encouraging space for everyone, especially during Covid-19. I hope that when we go to restaurants we look past the race and see the work they’re putting into their job and tip/treat them accordingly. After this year of Covid-19 and when it is all over, I hope to unite with love and support for all of our essential workers no matter their skin tone. Our diverse citizens deserve just as much appreciation as anyone else. I hope we learn from other countries and become united as one. As for employers, I hope we as a country compensate those hard workers during Covid-19 and create a stable income for all of your employees.

Work Cited

1. Robins, “Are eaters the key to better restaurant wages and working conditions?”2018
2. Millennial Thoughts: Minimum wage and my take, Will Perkins/ Columnist, Sep 9, 2017, Kellermann, Kim Leonie, and Th Apolte.
3. The Impact of Minimum Wage Regulations on Educational Incentives for the Youth: an Empirical Analysis for Germany. Springer Gabler, 2017.
4. Webster, Alyssa, “Encountering Racism on the Job”. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, vol. 119, no. 3, March 2019, pp. 10. DOI: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000554011.69390.1b.
5. Can You Pay That?! Federal and State Tipped Minimum Wage Rates, RACHEL BLAKELY-GRAY | MAR 08, 2021
6. Oecd. Real Minimum Wages, 2021, stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=RMW.
7. Minimum Wage By Country 2021, 2021, worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/minimum-wage-by-country.
8. Richest Countries In The World 2021, 2021, worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/richest-countries-in-the-world.
9. “Tipped Minimum Wage: Federal Rate and Rates by State (Chart).” Patriot Software, 11 Mar. 2021, www.patriotsoftware.com/blog/payroll/federal-state-tipped-minimum-wage-rates/.
10. Ellingrud, Kweilin. “Diverse Employees Are Struggling the Most during COVID-19 — Here’s How Companies Can Respond.” McKinsey & Company, McKinsey & Company, 8 Jan. 2021, www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diverse-employees-are-struggling-the-most-during-covid-19-heres-how-companies-can-respond#.
11. PHOTO- https://torontoemploymentlawyer.com/2018/11/racism-in-the-workplace-toronto-employment-lawyer/