Karleb:


During the pandemic. Professional players took wage cut. Some were sacked, many weren't payed. Which is quite understandable to some extent.

What of when a certain company make excess of their normal profit, should they renegotiate upward?

T was voluntary, Ozil of arsenal didn't take

Officialgarri:


I believe there's something called "Annual turnover" which shows your yearly profit.

Even if this proposal doesn't apply in the first year of a business, it should be applicable in about the second or third year.

Ok ... so there is no standard for me to pay my employees for the first two or three years.... I pay them what I want to. Wouldn't this your proposal be worse for employees than the present one that has minimum wage?

Yes, in a capitalist society. That is why anybody is free to start their own business too.

An employer can only pay you what is sustainable for their business, otherwise the business will shut down and their will be no employment, not to talk of salary.

If you work for a private business, and you think the owner is underpaying you compared to the revenue or profits, you always have an option to resign and look for better options. If the company keeps losing good hands, they will be forced to review their conditions of service, if possible. There will always be greedy employers, just as their will be unreasonable employees. What you can do as an employee is to put in your best in what you do, and if your employer does not appreciate you, somebody else will, and eventually it will be their loss.

Most business founders risk their money and work for no income for several months or years while paying employees. You should not also expect them to pay you an unsustainable income when they are still trying to recoup their investment or paying back loans used to start the business, in addition to several taxes and levies by government.

Nigeria is one of the most difficult places to do business in the world, so we need to try to understand what employers go through. Every employee needs to try to put themselves in the employers shoe. As a former employee, I have had to advocate for salaries to be cut at some moments when the company is struggling (e.g during 2016 economic crisis and COVID 19), otherwise, the company will collapse and we will all lose our jobs.

As an employer now, I have invested a lot of money in businesses for almost a year without a single income. I had to close one down when I realised after 6 months that I was just working for my employees, and making monthly losses without any serious prospect of even recouping my investment, or being able to pay for the next rent.

So, salaries must be determined by the employer based on what they can pay, and as an employee, you have a choice to take it or leave it. But any good businessman will know the importance of good and competent employees, and will compensate them well as much as they can. If not, the business itself will not be sustainable on the long term.