Right, this second post is what I was getting at. It’s why not everyone is happy with the change. Some workers are actually earning LESS under the guise of progress. So in response to your initial post, some people are in fact losing it.

I’m all for raising the minimum wage. The problem is with jobs that paid over minimum wage anyway. Let’s say someone was earning $16 an hour. Before the new law started to take effect, they would have been earning $704 gross per week (32 hours at $16, 8 hours at $24). That person wouldn’t benefit from the minimum wage increase because they already earn over that amount. Now, that same worker would be earning $640 a week.

I know the math isn’t perfect because that worker would have been given raises (likely in the realm of 20c a year or so) during that time, but it gives you an idea of why some people are unhappy about it.

I’m a salaried M-F type, but my husband is an hourly retail manager and a lot of the folks he works with right on that minimum wage cusp have found it really tough to slowly lose their Sunday/holiday pay.

What grade/subject?

You can take a look on Schoolspring.com to get an idea of what jobs are out there. Traditionally, hiring season begins late March and ramps up from there, but it’s been all over the place the last few years for obvious reasons.