On 2013-05-26 01:59, Bob1Dog wrote:

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On 2013-05-25 20:13, acesover wrote:

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On 2013-05-25 12:28, Payne wrote:

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On 2013-05-25 11:31, Bob1Dog wrote:

OK. So, let's just assume that your business was profitable enough and growing to the point that you needed to hire four full-time people. I'll ask my same question once again. How many weeks vacation would you provide them and would you offer free pension and health coverage? And how would you react to those four insisting on being represented by a union?

As an employer I would have a responsibility to my employees to either pay them enough so they can obtain their own health coverage, or include them on the companies group plan. Seeing that an rested and stress free employee is a more productive employee I would provide them with paid holidays and vacation time. I would hope that I treated them well enough that they didn't feel the need to join a union. But if they feel that they needed representation then I would let them organize.

Of course this would mean that I might not get paid 1034 times more than my employees http://www.payscale.com/data-packages/ceo-income
Or see my companies profits increase while my employees wages stagnate like other companies http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/03/04/rep......tagnate/
But I could sleep at night knowing that I treat my employees with respect and see them as fellow human beings rather than an easily replaced and expendable commodity that must be endured.

This post reminds me of a story I once heard. The soup kitchen was asking for donations and asked the man. If you had a million dollars would you give the soup kitchen $10,000? The answer was oh yes definitely. Then asking the man again if you had $500,000 would you give the soup kitchen $2,000. And again the answer was of yes I would. Then asked if your had $5,000 would you give the soup kitchen $25. The answer was...that is not fair you know I have $5,000. Just saying you guys talk a good game until you are the one paying out. This expression is very true, "Talk is Cheap".

And to add. Your first responsibility as an employer is to make money. Remember that is why you went into business in the first place. So again your first responsibility is to your family. You guys make me laugh with your altruistic notions which may sound very noble and good but when faced with reality are cast aside rather quickly. That is not to say you shouldn't treat your employees well. You give them what they are worth. I have a "jack of all trades guy" working for me. No education whatsoever. He is the highest paid employee I have. He makes over $70,000 a year and I pay for his medical coverage to the tune of an additional $400/month disguised as a bonus twice a year. He picks his own coverage and while I give him less than $5,000 bonus it is understood that this is for medical coverage. He is very happy with this arrangement and he more than likely adds to it as he has a family of 2 kids. Also gets a Christmas bonus, however much less than $5,000.

Aces,you hit a home run with your response. You're what the dream of capitalism is all about. It'll be interesting to see how the anti-capitalists and those of the "S" word ilk here respond. I wish you success in your business and hope to be an observer of your success in the public domain.

Banking is the largest sector in the Luxembourg economy. The country has specialised in the cross-border fund administration business. As Luxembourg's domestic market is relatively small, the country's financial centre is predominantly international. At the end of March 2009, there were 152 banks in Luxembourg, with over 27,000 employees. Political stability, good communications, easy access to other European centres, skilled multilingual staff, a tradition of banking secrecy and cross-border financial expertise have all contributed to the growth of the financial sector. These factors have contributed to a Corruption Perceptions Index of 8.3 and a DAW Index ranking of 10 in 2012; the latter the highest in Europe.[7] Germany accounts for the largest-single grouping of banks, with Scandinavian, Japanese, and major U.S. banks also heavily represented. Total assets exceeded €929 billion at the end of 2008. More than 9,000 holding companies are established in Luxembourg. The European Investment Bank—the financial institution of the European Union—is also located there.

On 2013-05-26 16:27, ed rhodes wrote:

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On 2013-05-26 01:59, Bob1Dog wrote:

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On 2013-05-25 20:13, acesover wrote:

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On 2013-05-25 12:28, Payne wrote:

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On 2013-05-25 11:31, Bob1Dog wrote:

OK. So, let's just assume that your business was profitable enough and growing to the point that you needed to hire four full-time people. I'll ask my same question once again. How many weeks vacation would you provide them and would you offer free pension and health coverage? And how would you react to those four insisting on being represented by a union?

As an employer I would have a responsibility to my employees to either pay them enough so they can obtain their own health coverage, or include them on the companies group plan. Seeing that an rested and stress free employee is a more productive employee I would provide them with paid holidays and vacation time. I would hope that I treated them well enough that they didn't feel the need to join a union. But if they feel that they needed representation then I would let them organize.

Of course this would mean that I might not get paid 1034 times more than my employees http://www.payscale.com/data-packages/ceo-income
Or see my companies profits increase while my employees wages stagnate like other companies http://miami.cbslocal.com/2013/03/04/rep......tagnate/
But I could sleep at night knowing that I treat my employees with respect and see them as fellow human beings rather than an easily replaced and expendable commodity that must be endured.

This post reminds me of a story I once heard. The soup kitchen was asking for donations and asked the man. If you had a million dollars would you give the soup kitchen $10,000? The answer was oh yes definitely. Then asking the man again if you had $500,000 would you give the soup kitchen $2,000. And again the answer was of yes I would. Then asked if your had $5,000 would you give the soup kitchen $25. The answer was...that is not fair you know I have $5,000. Just saying you guys talk a good game until you are the one paying out. This expression is very true, "Talk is Cheap".

And to add. Your first responsibility as an employer is to make money. Remember that is why you went into business in the first place. So again your first responsibility is to your family. You guys make me laugh with your altruistic notions which may sound very noble and good but when faced with reality are cast aside rather quickly. That is not to say you shouldn't treat your employees well. You give them what they are worth. I have a "jack of all trades guy" working for me. No education whatsoever. He is the highest paid employee I have. He makes over $70,000 a year and I pay for his medical coverage to the tune of an additional $400/month disguised as a bonus twice a year. He picks his own coverage and while I give him less than $5,000 bonus it is understood that this is for medical coverage. He is very happy with this arrangement and he more than likely adds to it as he has a family of 2 kids. Also gets a Christmas bonus, however much less than $5,000.

Aces,you hit a home run with your response. You're what the dream of capitalism is all about. It'll be interesting to see how the anti-capitalists and those of the "S" word ilk here respond. I wish you success in your business and hope to be an observer of your success in the public domain.

I will respond like this. Aces is that rare person who seems to be getting it right. There would be no need for unions or a "nanny state" if every employer was an Aces, unfortunately most of them seem to be a Walmart.

On 2013-05-26 18:50, Woland wrote:
Hi Magnus,

I was just trying to point out that Luxembourg, a very tiny and unique country with a rather unique economy, doesn't really belong on anybody's list of anything.

My other point, is that despite the lack of a government mandate, most large companies in the United States start people off with one week of vacation, but they rapidly progress to 4 and 5 weeks of vacation, and that's on top of roughly a dozen national holidays.

The United States is the only country in the group that does not legally require employers to provide paid annual leave. Of course, many employers in the United States offer some or all of their employees paid vacations and paid holidays even though the law does not establish a legal minimum for either kind of benefit. (Many employers in the other 20 countries in Figure 1 also offer more
paid vacations and holidays than the legal minimums described in the figure.)

Table 2 presents data on paid vacations and paid holidays in the U.S. private sector from the 2012 National Compensation Survey. The first column shows that about 77 percent of private-sector workers are in jobs where their employer offers paid vacation. The next column indicates that about 77 percent of workers are in jobs with paid holidays. The next two columns give the average number
of paid vacation and paid holidays for those employees who have paid vacation and paid holidays, that is, the average excludes those employees who have zero paid vacation and zero paid holidays. For this group, which represents about three-fourths of the U.S. work force, the average paid annual leave is about 13 days, and the average number of paid holidays is about eight.

On 2013-05-27 00:56, LobowolfXXX wrote:
I wonder why they exclude public sector workers...

United States law offers no guarantees of paid leave. The only exceptions are for government contractors and subcontractors covered under the Davis-Bacon Act.

On 2013-05-27 09:09, Magnus Eisengrim wrote:

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On 2013-05-27 00:56, LobowolfXXX wrote:
I wonder why they exclude public sector workers...

Good question. A quick review of the source document doesn't make that clear. They do note that

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United States law offers no guarantees of paid leave. The only exceptions are for government contractors and subcontractors covered under the Davis-Bacon Act.

On 2013-05-27 15:26, Dannydoyle wrote:
And it seems to have worked out so well for those two.

Walmart again!

On 2013-05-27 16:15, Dannydoyle wrote:
Really? No harm in it at all?

Still I ask WHO PAYS?