Minimum Wage for SoWal???

[Lady D]

If 39 1/2 hours was considered part-time, every company would work 39 1/2 hours instead of 40 to avoid paying benefits. Except, of course, those companies with a big, compassionate heart. (I've heard of a company like that, but it was long, long ago.---In a foreign country). In my region, 26 hours a week or more is considered full-time. Since the federal mininum wage is still just $5.15 an hour, although some states have higher mininum wages of their own, even the highest I saw was at around $7.63 an hour and that is not enough to pay rent and all other living expenses including utilities and groceries and gas, especially if they have to drive 2 hours each way to their work. Pitiful situation!

 

[beachwanabe]

Please bare with me, as my wife says I can be long winded.

We always vacationed at Carrilon Beach at the west end of Bay County, never wanted to venture east into Bay very much just to eat at a few places. After retiring, In June of 2003 I stumbled on a place called Palmetto Trace, I was ready to buy an affordable second home, however I had to get in a lottery to get a lot because of what I was told to make it fair to everyone as investors were starting to buy. Well, I finally got my packet to get in the lottery some 15 months later, oddly enough a week after Ivan hit in September 2004. The house I had wanted went from $142,000 to $225,000 during that time frame which put me out of range for a second home.

The other day I read an old post on this site about St Joe stock, a comment about them making bad investments by gearing to lower income developments such as Palmetto Trace.

Now to my point we all know the profits made in this area since 2000, once the profit takers realize there is a real need for affordable single family housing with a real community feel in this area things could improve. I don't know the area north of 30A but maybe it's inland a few miles, but it would help with the problem of workers. Many people like myself and other baby boomers taking early retirement would be glad to take part time jobs, just to live here half the year.

I may be way off, but this is just my personal feelings/ideas.

 

[Lady D]

I too would like to own a home there. We rent on the west end of the beach at Inlet Beach. We do all our activities in PC Beach. I looked online one time at homes in PC Beach and could not believe I found homes listed for what ours cost that are not on the coast and some for less. Our home appraised for around $103,500 for a house a little over 1500 square feet with actually just what they call two bedrooms and one bath although a 1/2 bath exists also off of a room like a den. Some homes I viewed online were around that and I even saw one fairly nice home around $90,000.00! Of course, these were not on the beach. Didn't think any existed that cheap there.

 

[Smiling JOe]

If 39 1/2 hours was considered part-time, every company would work 39 1/2 hours instead of 40 to avoid paying benefits....

Not true.

From Dol.gov:
"The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not define part-time or full-time employment; rather, this is generally a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee."

 

[Lady D]

You talk about some one-sided, employer-slanted laws check them out at:

http://www.dol.gov/dolfaq/dolfaqBYs...urs&topicid=1&thetopicname=Wages+&+Work+Hours

 

[Smiling JOe]

You talk about some one-sided, employer-slanted laws check them out at:

http://www.dol.gov/dolfaq/dolfaqBYsubtopic.asp?subtopicid=6&title=Work+Hours&topicid=1&thetopicname=Wages+%26+Work+Hours

perhaps you meant to give a specific link rather than a list of FAQs? Please relate it to SoWal.

 

[WaltonUndercurrent]

Here's the deal. Investors don't care about affordable housing. Second home owners don't care about affordable housing. People who vacation here cook shrimp, make sandwiches, sit on the beach and go back to their home where there is affordable food, housing, things to do, etc. How many people responding to this thread actually live here - full-time. I want to know how many people who have an opinion have lived here full-time, longer than three or more continuous years, have their jobs here, their futures here. How many perspectives are there? Where are they coming from? How many of you are actually locals??? I want to know so I can evaluate the opinions of those who know what they are talking about and those who don't.

If you spend a weekend a month or a couple of weeks a year or visit friends or family when you get the time, I'd like to know so I can judge who knows, and who does not know, what they are talking about.

 

[Lady D]

One of those FAQs related what you stated earlier in regards to the full-time employment question. It is really enlightening to view some of the laws or "no-laws" that pertain to labor and employment. It seems that our lawmakers believe in a more-or-less hands off approach to labor rules and regulations at least as it applies to employee benefits.

 

[montana]

I do I do....full timers choose it ......they complain but they choose to live here and they wouldn't leave if momma made them. I've watched for years waiters and bussers and service staff say: need to move on get some cash and get a life......most of them are still in it....good waiter down here makes.....45k a year or more depending on what's reported and who they work for...I can think of a few people that did really well being waitstaff and bought on 30a, waiters! Now, granted that time has passed but take a look at some of the staff round here and see how long they have been there! Easy work schedule, days off, great working atmospheres! If I was going to blame some of the problems on someone, I'd say it was the landlords of the shops themselves. commercial rent around here is astronomical. how is a business owner going to pay top wages and make an income and pay 65/ft? and we are seasonal still! If we had a year round consistant crowd maybe..look at how someone like B and A's has to cut staff or any store or service oriented place/job...Seaside loses like 50 employee's a season. no wonder we see so many transient workers...it's not that bad really, look at all the successful jumps waiters made to real estate, I see many that are doing very well.......hmmm, couple of weeks in class, take a job for remax and boom cash money.....well maybe not that easy! I'm a normal guy, married, one kid live in Sowal and am fairing ok.....no education to speak of, not overly connected, just came down and went to work. It's not my first tourist town to live in and this problem is pretty much the norm! you won't see alot of affordable housing cause the county has to balance the issues that come along with it.....schools, police, crime,abuse etc....with the service staff you bring in its darker side. and we are all so bright and shiny people! oh we could go on and on about this!

 

[Paula]

Here's the deal. Investors don't care about affordable housing. Second home owners don't care about affordable housing. People who vacation here cook shrimp, make sandwiches, sit on the beach and go back to their home where there is affordable food, housing, things to do, etc. How many people responding to this thread actually live here - full-time. I want to know how many people who have an opinion have lived here full-time, longer than three or more continuous years, have their jobs here, their futures here. How many perspectives are there? Where are they coming from? How many of you are actually locals??? I want to know so I can evaluate the opinions of those who know what they are talking about and those who don't.

If you spend a weekend a month or a couple of weeks a year or visit friends or family when you get the time, I'd like to know so I can judge who knows, and who does not know, what they are talking about.

I humbly agree with you on this one, WaltonUndercurrent (which is why I'm going to try to keep my opinions off of this thread now). Though I care deeply about SoWal and expect to live there much of the year in about 7 years and do some kind of work there, I am not there often enough now to have a deep understanding of the current year-round situation that would enable me to have a better understanding of the consequences of different ideas (although I will most certainly live with the consequences at some point). In particular, I appreciate the first-hand comments on this thread of the people who have worked in SoWal as waiters/waitresses, as well as the comments from the people who are actually looking around for affordable housing around Panama City Beach.