It has always amazed me why we, as employers, have to pay employess by the hour, yet, almost everything we sell or make is sold either by weight or per item.

Let's take apples for egample.

You have one apple that weighs 100gr and another 200gr.

They both require the same amount of time to place on the shelf, yet, despite the fact that the retailer has paid equal amounts (in wages) for them to be sold, he only receives half the return for the smaller apple.

We sell steel for X$ per metre. Yet, it takes the same amount of time to cut and sell a 1 meter length as it does for a 3 mt length. So why does the worker get paid the same for effectively making less for the boss? The cost of production for the smaller peice is much higher, but why?

Perhaps this is the reason why so much of our manufacturing is going 'off shore', as we pay people for how long it takes to perform a task, not how much they produce.

What about if wages were set at a 'bare minimum' and a percentage of the profits were distributed to the workers. Quite easy, % of turnover goes to wages.

I can turn over doulble one saturday to the next, yet, I still have to pay the same wages.

And yes belly, it's me, your old mate rehctub!

"We sell steel for X$ per metre. Yet, it takes the same amount of time to cut and sell a 1 meter length as it does for a 3 mt length. So why does the worker get paid the same for effectively making less for the boss? "

Because the worker has does similar work regardless of how long the piece is. It's the boss who makes a decision about having a cutting charge (and I suspect that's generally about what he or she thinks is in their own best interest). The worker does similar work to sell the light apple or the heavy one, it's the boss who decides if he will have different unit pricing for larger different quantities purchased.

R0bert

Thank Christ you're not running the country. Someone would've drilled ya with a high powered rifle by now.

I can't think of a more dreary and drudge-filled world than one populated solely by employers who think like rehctub.
Once upon a time people worked with a connection to their produce and invested some interest in the things they grew or created. All that went out the door when industrialism came along and now modern society decrees that workers, who have no real interest in what they are selling, be paid by the hour

Butchers work extremely hard and long hours.

Rechtub, you just reminded me about a Butcher last week paying his Saturday staff in cash behind the counter from his register. The money I viewed being paid was NOTHING in comparison to a daily minimum wage of any desk position.

The theory and prac Butchers undertake in their apprenticeships to later on receive 'pittance' saddens me greatly.

Your energies are best channelled into requesting Government [DEWAR? or DEST] to give private Butchers a grant to assist with training and the employment of your employees. Or do you already receive government assistance?

These Butcher employees have worked damn hard for every cent they are paid [and more].

rehctub: Decisions on what product is stocked and sold rarely emanate from the employees, but from the business owner or manager.

One would assume that the biz owner would stock whatever brings in the best return and/or whatever keeps the customers coming back.

Therefore any product that the employee moves serves the profit making goal of the employer.

It seems like you're always looking for ways to exploit the efforts of the little bloke. Stg - I think a lot of employers think almost exactly the same as rehctub. Once upon a time Unions represented workers, but they are now run by self-serving fast tracking uni graduates who collude with management rather than challenge it. What a waste.