Shawnee Love   •  
November 26, 2014

I love profits as much as any business owner.  I also am committed to fair pay.  I know for a fact that when people feel fairly paid and they can afford the lifestyle they need and want, lots of good things happen.

Recently, I was shocked to discover during a recruiting interview how much (or dare I say how little) the candidate was earning.  The candidate worked at a large multinational box store as a Supervisor.  Working full time, he was making $14 per hour.  That means at the end of a year, his T4 will say $29,120 and after taxes, he will end up with about $24,000.

This is a supervisor of people, responsible for money, stock, policy adherence, health and safety.  He has more than 10 years of work experience.

In my opinion, no matter what the industry, that kind of responsibility should mean a higher salary.  Saying that, at times companies are struggling to survive and truly can’t afford it.  Giving the benefit of the doubt, I went on to research his company.  It turns out it is highly profitable!  It occurred to me in passing that its approach to employee wages certainly contributed to its incredible profit but upon further reflection, I realized there might be evil genius at work:

Keep wages low and it forces its employees to only shop at its stores.  After all, its employees can barely afford to shop anywhere else.

While their shopping options may be limited, fortunately those employees can search for fair paying jobs and leave when they find them.

I for one am happy to be able to take advantage of such miserly behavior.  How about you?