Minimum pay regulations in the United States and Mexico

15 in 2007 to $7. 25 in 2009 (Martocchio, 2015). Different states have different minimum wages but the federal rates supersede the states rates. These differences between the countries’ minimum wages make it easier for companies in the country with the lower minimum wage to have low production costs. Therefore, these companies can offer their products at a lower price thus beating their competition from highly priced products due to high wage bills. In contrast, Canada stipulates that each employee is entitled to between 8 to 9 annual paid holidays and a 2 week paid vacation. The amount of vacation pay per week of vacation is calculated as 2 percent of an employee’s pay for the preceding year. Maternity laws also provide for 17 weeks of paid leave. Difference between healthcare systems in the United States and China China has a unified medical insurance scheme where both the employer and the employee contribute to the scheme, with employers contributing 6 percent of the payroll and employees 2 percent of their salary (Martocchio, 2015).

Covered workers are then eligible to receive medical services at accredited medical centers, and the social insurance fund then reimburses for the cost of medical benefit. Hence, when they get a chance to join full time employment, they do not have superior qualifications like their colleagues, who have been on full time employment, to bargain for better pay, thus they end up getting poor pay and benefits. Advantage and disadvantage of increasing the minimum wage Raising the minimum wage from time to time helps citizens to cope up or be able to withstand the constant price inflations faced in the country. Prices of basic commodities rise periodically and this puts a strain on the salaries of common employees. Therefore, it is important to also raise the minimum wage paid out to employees so as to help them stay even with any price inflations.

On the other hand, increasing the minimum wage may lead to rise in unemployment rates. Demographics of the country have a played a huge role in the country’s rising wages bills. There is an increasing number of old people as compared to young people, a result of the country’s ‘one child policy’. This has caused a reduction in the labor force hence leading to a state where the demand for labor is more than the supplying triggering a gradual spike in the wages paid to factory workers (Chinn & Cheung, 2018). Moreover, there has been unrest among the workers demanding better wages and working conditions. This has put the government on the spot as it tries to narrow the income inequality gap, prompting it to enact laws that govern the minimum wage paid to factory workers and subjecting this minimum wage bill to an annual increase.

Companies, especially small-scale companies and businesses need to offer an incentive to potential employees, as there is a stiff competition for talent in the job market, so as to stay competitive in the employment arena. If a company does not offer these benefit plans, they run the risk of losing top employees to other companies willing to offer them for an assured mutually beneficial relationship between the employer and the employee. Also, these benefit plans offer a better financial plan to the companies. The flexible plans help the employer budget better on how much they are going to spend in a month, quarter or year on their plan. To the employer, this becomes a constant and expected expense. In any case, if the benefits are offered then I would recommend offering only the health insurance benefit.

An employee of any capacity in a company deserves at least basic health cover by the employer. This could also help with increased productivity amongst employees. However, I am not for the idea of paying the part time employees for time off and 401(k) plans, as I believe the whole idea of employing people part time, is so that companies do not carry the full expense of having an individual as a full time employee for a short task or time. Therefore, what the employee does with their free time should not be a concern of the employer and so should not be the retirement plans for the part time employee, thus they do not warrant compensation or benefits from the employee.