Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Your Employer Owes You Only That To Which You've Agreed

No reasonable person with normal empathy wants someone who is simply minding their own business to needlessly suffer and die prematurely. Emotions well up when we're presented with hard cases.

"This big company that makes billions of dollars a year, pays its CEO tens of millions of dollars per year, yet has employees who are on public assistance. There was even an employee who was living in their car and died an early death in their car, undiscovered for days!"

No conservative or libertarian I know wants people to be on taxpayer assistance. Nobody with any empathy thinks someone should be living in their car and dying an early death.

In publicly traded corporations, CEO pay is up to the Board of Directors and the shareholders. While there have been companies that have tied CEO pay to the wages of employees, in general, there is no reason for most companies to do the same.

That a CEO is getting paid a high salary does not prevent you from being paid more.

It doesn't follow that the company must be doing something wrong if employees are getting taxpayer assistance or once of them is living in their car, or that some other employees have experienced homelessness or are having trouble paying their bills. Some people with very high salaries have trouble paying their bills.

We have essentially free education in this country through high school. Community colleges are heavily subsidized. There are vocational programs. Public libraries have computer terminals and Internet access, providing a wealth of knowledge through their connection and within their own walls. It has never been easier to learn things that can help someone make themselves more employable and manage their finances well.

Some people have a rough start in life, such as having abusive parents or being passed around in the custody of the county or state. But there are people who come to this country as a racial or ethnic minority, with little understanding of the language and nothing but the clothes they are wearing, and they make something of themselves. The opportunities are there. So rather than blaming an employer for the condition of someone's life or their death on their own time, we should ask, "Why is/was this person in this position? Did they have medical problems? Did they have psychological disorders? There are people who get sick through no fault of their own and no fault of their employer. There are people who get into a bad accident through no fault of their own and no fault of their employer. There are people who have their life destroyed through an attack by a criminal through no fault of their own and no fault of their employer.

Don't blame their employer if they've had terrible things happen to them that weren't caused by their employer. Don't blame their employer if they've made bad choices, whether that was blowing off school, abusing substances or getting into otherwise risky or self-destructive behaviors, getting involved in crime, mismanaging money, buying things they couldn't afford, getting into or staying in bad relationships, having children they can't afford, or some other bad choice.

Your employers owes you the compensation and working conditions to which you've agreed, and nothing more. It is nice if your employer offers or hosts financial management advice classes, but unless that is part of the employment contract, they're not obligated to do that. There are some laws that apply, but unless laws change, beyond minimum wage laws, your compensation is set by you, your employer, and an anyone you've designated (union, agent, lawyer). If you're no longer satisfied by the terms of your employment, you can ask for changes. You're also free to quit. Appealing to outsiders is ridiculous. You CHOSE to work there. You ASKED for that job. And you're free to quit. And if you have a union, you're paying that union to get you what you want. If you feel you have to complain to outsiders, using the MSM, then that means your union has failed.

If an employer is shorting you on compensation owed, that employer needs to held accountable by criminal prosecution and/or civil lawsuit. But if you're getting everything specified by your employment agreement, and will not raise your compensation to your satisfaction, then it is up to you to decide to stay, go, seek promotion, take on more work, or manage your finances better.

It is not your employer's fault you have made the decisions you have.

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