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What to pay employees

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Kabe Adrift

I just saw where they "raised" the minimum wage for garment workers to $140 a month. TERRIBLE! So my question is, if I were to pay my Cambodian employees $1.75 an hour, which comes out to exactly double the minimum wage for a 40 hour work week, would that not be considered quite fair by all accounts? I want to be fair, but also, the less I have to pay my employees, the better chance my business will have to survive...especially in the beginning. Thoughts?

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Ken007

I have no doubt , as you know garment staff basicly $140/m , it's pretty no fair for 8hours /day working . however they had their extra pay for OT,
That's why Union Worker trying to rest up salary to government , hope they increase more nearest future.
Private company should be high pay then ..however to ensure you can cover your budget operation ,
Regards

JoeKhmer

You start at the wrong side, your side.

You should go from the minimum, then add extras for special skills, experience, age and so on.

Your example of 1.75 per hour brings the monthly wages to $303, more than double the minimum.
Realize that factory workers work about 12 hours a day for 6 days, to get $140 a month. I don't say that it's good, but it is the reality. Overpaying is not necessary and makes enemies.

CambHarris

The salaries in Cambodia are abysmally low (and I thought that the salaries in Kosovo was bad; but Cambodia seems to beat that sorry figure).  In essence; when I resided there (up until 2 months sago); blue collar workers (such as waitresses, cashiers, etc) were getting about $130 USD per month (for a 40 hour work week).

On the other hand; professional employees seemed to fare a little better on the salary scale--though definitely nothing to write home to mother about--in essence; it was around $200-$250/month.

International professional employees; on the other hand, commanded between $450 USD $700 (such as English teachers; though very few were on this top tier).  International accountants working through various NGO's earned about $500/month (as you can see these salaries are at least double--and sometimes triple--that of the locals).

The salary that you are willing to pay potential employees ($1.75/hr) equates to $280/wk (while the locals will love you and think that they have died and gone to 'salary heaven'...LOL).  Knowing such and because the cost of living in the country is exceptionally low; those dollars should be able to go pretty far.  My friend; yes you are being fair and I hope that your business endeavor is extremely successful, not only for yourself but also for the employees who will be working underneath you.

Take care and TTYL

Ken007

$130 / wages , it's simple staff event they don't have  skills , or English presentation is not really except-able , if you are running western restaurants , cafe and bar , yes you need staff with good English communication so on the salary would be consider as high as you can afford , so your daily  sale would be increase as well ,
Salary is not important but to choose professional skills staff  to boost your sale .
wishes all the best to you
Cheers

CambHarris

EXPLANATION:  When I stated in an earlier writing (about 1 hr ago) that "when I resided there (up until 2 months ago)..." concerning the fair pay salary debate, I was referring to the country of Cambodia.  Please accept my apology for any inconvenience this geographical statement may have caused.

JoeKhmer

CambHarris wrote:

The salary that you are willing to pay potential employees ($1.75/hr) equates to $280/wk


Just a slight correction. $1.75 per hour for 40 hours makes $70 a week, that again makes $303a month ( a month being 4 1/3 week). A quite high salary for "normal" work.

Ken007

Salary range from $200 to $300 would be senior staffs , if in food and drink industry , in general i don't know exactly never had experiences , well its just our sharing idea above Kabe rest up , good to shared . have a good day,

CambHarris

"Just a slight correction. $1.75 per hour for 40 hours makes $70 a week, that again makes $303a month ( a month being 4 1/3 week). A quite high salary for "normal" work."

You are very much correct in your calculations; as $303--compared to my monthly salary of $280; which is $70/week X 4 weeks--is right on the mark.

Thanks for following up with the correct figure.

Kabe Adrift

Ah. Well my math had it at $280 a month for 160 hrs. Yeah, I figured it was a high number, (relatively speaking). Honestly, I shot a lol high on purpose, just to be good and sure I didn't get cussed out! Lol! And I get the answers to my question regardless.

Kabe Adrift

So then my next question would be...What is the hourly min wage?

Ken007

@@ Cam

You calculate by 4 weeks / but he's 30 day , that's result come up with differences amount of wage ,

@@
Kabe

You need to make your operation budget to fit your business , hope you see your estimate monthly expense , then you able to find out gross sale and profit .
Cheers

netexpat

Local senior programmers can ear $800 per month, working for companies with projects from abroad.

CambHarris

I really am not sure what the minimum wage is for the country of Cambodia; but whatever it is, it is not very high (LOL).  However; to learn what the specific wage is for the country (on a daily & monthly basis; according to a 40 hr work week), I have attached a very important barometer comparing the wages of various countries to the US Dollar.  The site is:  http://www.nwpc.dole.gov.ph/pages/statistics/stat_comparative.html

Pretty abysmal financials and clearly nothing to write home to mother about.

Fred

Looking at this from a purely capitalist point of view, I see a potential  problem.

As the wage bill is commonly the largest expense for any business, will paying more than your competitors make your prices uncompetitive, meaning you're unable to get business?

JoeKhmer

Very correct Fred. The price of a product is based on competition, do you want to be the cheapest, the middle or the most expensive (but best product)?

It's at this stage impossible to give any advice as we don't know what business we are talking about, manufacturing (local or import), service (from window cleaning to stock exchange), sales (insurance, real estate), and so on. Each sector has its own special approach.

But for sure one should not start with generous wages, but first position the products/services that one wants to put into the market. The market decides if your business idea was a good one.

Kabe Adrift

All very sound advice. I realize the difficulty in pinning anything down without knowing what the business is. Being that I'd like to keep it under wraps until the time comes, I will just say that it involves an innovative, water sport recreation activity. Some may be able to extrapolate a good or even correct guess, but I don't wish to advertise my intentions just yet.  Bottom line, I want to pay a fair wage, while being competitive in both service and price. I believe this particular business allows a good bit of wiggle room to make all of that possible. Thanks for all of the wonderful and very helpful feedback.

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