March 10, 2005
Job Choices
Walmart is regularly bashed because of their compensation plan. They may be deserving but there are some who are worse. For example, the state of Maryland:
BALTIMORE - Audra White loves her job caring for a 55-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman who need help with everyday tasks, but her paychecks from the state of Maryland leave her living below the poverty line.The article suggests that there may be an $80/month raise in the works for these personal care assistants. Yep, 50 cents/hour. Not much.Audra White"I bathe them, wash their clothes, run errands, talk to them. It's like a second family. You bond with them," said White, 39, a contract worker for the state in a program that provides Medicaid patients with in-home care. As a personal care assistant, she cleans and cooks and will even arrange cans in the cupboard so all labels are facing front if that's what a client wants.
The state of Maryland pays her a maximum of $40 a day for eight hours' work. One of 3,000 personal care assistants who work as contractors for the state, she averages less than the $5.15-an-hour federal minimum wage. The workers haven't had a raise in 19 years. White also has no health insurance, workers' compensation, sick leave, paid vacations or unemployment insurance.
It is, though, puzzling why the 3000 people who have these jobs don't move on to better paying positions elsewhere. Isn't that what people do when they believe they are undercompensated and they aren't getting relief from their current employer?
Posted by Steve on March 10, 2005"It is, though, puzzling why the 3000 people who have these jobs don't move on to better paying positions elsewhere. Isn't that what people do when they believe they are undercompensated and they aren't getting relief from their current employer?"
If that were true, there wouldn't be ANY public school teachers in the entire country. Some people truly love their jobs. Some don't have the training to do something else. Some have invested so much time and energy into their career that they aren't willing to move on. There are a lot of reasons to stay in a low-paying job, many of those reasons don't even make sense in a non-emotional way.
Have you checked the job market lately? People with college degrees are scrambling for work.
Having a guaranteed pay check, even a minimal check, is better than no check, or months with nothing. It can takes years to make back the money lost during unemployment.
Posted by Bryan at March 10, 2005 6:38 PMAnd several of those who love their jobs yet get paid very little (and especially those who do full-time volunteer work and get paid nothing) live off of someone else, such as a spouse.
People with college degrees? I've got a MA degree and am scrambling for work...
Posted by Adrianne Truett at March 11, 2005 8:21 AMUnfortunately, it's not just Maryland. NY pays its HHAs with similar patheticness, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this is common in most states.
Posted by Kim at March 11, 2005 8:54 AM
