If you have a choice

[labbo606]

i own a business. which one would you choose, if you have a choice between giving a raise to an employee who needs the raise or give it to charity or some body who is realy poor, as mother tresa calls them the poorest of the poor.

thankyou

 

[puzzleannie]

as a business owner your primary responsibility (after duty to God, family, community and country) is to your shareholders and employees. If charitable giving out of the earnings of the business would jeopardize the legitimate claims of the employee to a just wage, it would be wrong. You should only tithe your own earnings, or the profits that accrue after legitimate business expense are met. It is not your money until it is your own discretionary income. For the same reason, it would be wrong to give money to charity but avoid paying just taxes.

 

[Steven_Merten]

puzzleannie:

as a business owner your primary responsibility (after duty to God, family, community and country) is to your shareholders and employees. If charitable giving out of the earnings of the business would jeopardize the legitimate claims of the employee to a just wage, it would be wrong. You should only tithe your own earnings, or the profits that accrue after legitimate business expense are met. It is not your money until it is your own discretionary income. For the same reason, it would be wrong to give money to charity but avoid paying just taxes.

I agree! One should be charitable with their own money and not the money that an employee rightfully has earned.

 

[vern_humphrey]

Steven Merten:

I agree! One should be charitable with their own money and not the money that an employee rightfully has earned.

Profound wisdom. I wish more people understood it.

 

[Philip_P]

As a business owner, you do not have an absolute claim to that money. Your employees have a claim upon you to pay a just wage, and so you could not take their money and give it to charity.

Were it not for your employees, your business could not run or generate any money whatsoever, so there is the basic fact that it is not, in any case, all your money.

Secondly, if you offer someone a job, you are morally required to pay them a just wage. If you cannot afford to run a business and pay a just wage, then you need to take a better look at your business model. We do not cry foul if a business fails because of conditions such as a lack of demand for it’s products. Paying employees a just wage is as necessary condition of running a business as any other economic condition is.

What you may do is donate a portion of the profits to a charity, provided it does not harm your business or prevent you from paying out a just wage (many companies give to charity regularly). You may also, of course, give any money that you personally have earned (that is, from your salary as specified, not from general business funds which belong to the business and not to you) to charity.

 

[labbo606]

at least the people who are working have enough to eat and drink, they get paid medicare plus food stamps. some of the poor people can not even have enough to eat.

 

[vern_humphrey]

labbo606:

at least the people who are working have enough to eat and drink, they get paid medicare plus food stamps. some of the poor people can not even have enough to eat.

Which would justify you in giving them some of your money, but not someone else’s money. Especially not someone else who is your employee and makes less than you do.

 

[wcknight]

Giving an employee, who needs one, a raise (or even a one time bonus) is also an act of charity. Treating your own folks with generousity is always a good thing.

It improves morale tremendously, and in the long run will provide dividends in improved performance. Give the employee a raise and IF they feel generous or charitable they may decide to donate some of it.

 

[Darrel]

labbo606:

i own a business. which one would you choose, if you have a choice between giving a raise to an employee who needs the raise or give it to charity or some body who is realy poor, as mother tresa calls them the poorest of the poor.

thankyou

Take good care of the people that God has placed in your care. They are not a means to an end.

-D

 

[mumto5]

Do you want to keep your employee? Or give him the experience he needs to take to another employer who will reward his work and loyalty with greater renumeration?

I think you should give your employee a raise and either avoid taking one yourself or give from your own household income.

Your employee needs the raise, you said as much, those on the street are often there due to their own actions. Your first responsibility is to your employees. To redirect funds that would go to giving them a fair raise, as they are entitled to from time to time, could be stealing.

 

[mark_a]

labbo606:

i own a business. which one would you choose, if you have a choice between giving a raise to an employee who needs the raise or give it to charity or some body who is realy poor, as mother tresa calls them the poorest of the poor.

thankyou

I was supprised to that learn that Mother Teresa had much to say about loving your own family and neighbors. That a poverty of love is worse than a poverty of food.

 

[kage_ar]

labbo606:

at least the people who are working have enough to eat and drink, they get paid medicare plus food stamps. some of the poor people can not even have enough to eat.

If I read the above - it seems you are saying your employee is on medicare and food stamps. That tells me that this employee very much needs a raise, perhaps you could look at providing health insurance for your employees…

 

[puzzleannie]

there is another thread here someplace that discusses the biblical “sins that cry out to heaven for vengeance” and one of them is unjust treatment of the laborer.

 

[Darrel]

Not to mention the fact that charity donations are tax deductions. If you get it all back then put out double amounts of the original and get back the taxes. This way you do both for the same price. That is if you can front the cash.

-D

 

[felra]

labbo606:

i own a business. which one would you choose, if you have a choice between giving a raise to an employee who needs the raise or give it to charity or some body who is realy poor, as mother tresa calls them the poorest of the poor.

thankyou

Since you are the one in the position to create the choices available, why not both? Wages to employees, and a portion of your profits (from your “excess”) to charity. You can always become radical witness to the Gospel in the buisness world and tithe a set amout of your “first fruits” to be given to charity.

 

[labbo606]

would a $9 an hour + 9hours over time+health insurance for the employee only, be a fair wage? offering insurance for whole family is now expensive, plus, it does not cover every thing(20-80). if the family goes on medicare they cover 100%. some of the employees who are mor skilled they get full benefits, also the business we are in, is a family business.

 

[vern_humphrey]

labbo606:

would a $9 an hour + 9hours over time+health insurance for the employee only, be a fair wage? offering insurance for whole family is now expensive, plus, it does not cover every thing(20-80). if the family goes on medicare they cover 100%. some of the employees who are mor skilled they get full benefits, also the business we are in, is a family business.

A thing is worth what a willing buyer will offer and a willing seller will accept. In the case of labor, the buyer is the employer, and the seller is the employee.

Are you having trouble hiring people? If so, it means there are fewer willing sellers. If not, then the people you hire are calling the wages fair – if they didn’t consider them fair, they’d go elsewhere.

Medical insurance is a problem – but a good part of the problem is the government. Small businesses SHOULD be able to band together to bargain for health insurance from a position of strength – but that’s currently illegal.

You SHOULD be able to shop for insurance nation-wide – but that’s illegal, too. Imagine if you tried to order a Dell computer, and they said, “sorry, but we’re not licensed in your state.”

You SHOULD be able to offer Medical Savings Accounts as well – but that’s greatly restricted by current law.

 

[kage_ar]

labbo606:

would a $9 an hour + 9hours over time+health insurance for the employee only, be a fair wage? offering insurance for whole family is now expensive, plus, it does not cover every thing(20-80). if the family goes on medicare they cover 100%. some of the employees who are mor skilled they get full benefits, also the business we are in, is a family business.

If you pay time and a half for overtime, well you are taliking about an annual income of $23,112. That is before taxes. For a family of 4, in the states I’ve researched, the family you describe would not be eligible for Medicaid (Medicare applies to retired people), and would have a hard time trying to afford health care. Why not just be generous?

 

[wcknight]

A fair wage is kind of subjective. I used to own part of a business and although most of the jobs were basically minimum wage or part time, we eventually went with a limited profit sharing based on how long an employee worked for us. We gave bonuses at Christmas time and we had a big Christmas dinner party for the employees every year.

We always considered our employees as close friends and family. We were a very small retail company so big wages were not a possibility. We had 3 partners, and gave up 10% of our profits to employees. We had some employees who were with us for quite a while. Some even continued on with us part time, even after they went on to more lucrative paying jobs.

You may want to consider some sort of profit sharing even on a small scale. It gives the employee a stake in the business, so they have every reason to improve the business and profitability.

 

[donosti]

I definitively would give the salary raise,giving it also a help to your employee.