Low Wages Poor Remuneration

Question: Discuss about theLow Wagesfor Poor Remuneration. Answer: Introduction It is always the desire of every worker to receive better remuneration from their employers for work performed. However, their wishes of receiving adequate salaries are not realised as they end up working for long hours with low remunerations. Low wages that do not match with the duties performed is among the poor working conditions many employees across the world encounter. Poor remuneration can be linked to legislative factors and the nature of economic systems (Jerome Gautie 35). Therefore, this paper examines why most workers receive low wages and yet they are working for long hours. Foremost, insufficient legislation is among the principal reasons for low compensation among the workers in many countries. It is the responsibility of the government to formulate relevant policies regarding wages to protect the interests of employees from exploitative employers. Although many countries have laws in place concerning minimum wage, these legislations are not being fully implemented or no implementation at all. Such situations subject the workers to poor compensation since the law does not offer the necessary protection (Dietz, Jacobs and Reich 28). The desire of business tycoons to make higher profits is also a possible explanation why the workers receive low compensation. Therefore, the business owners will put a mechanism in place to reduce the production costs by minimising the labour expenses. For example, they hire a few individuals, overwork them and also pay them low salaries. By doing so, these entrepreneurs are assured of higher profits at the expense of the workers. Furthermore, the type of method used to compensate the workers can subject them to low payment despite long work hours. For example, when payment is based on the productivity, then the possibility of employees receiving low wages is high irrespective of the nature of the job they are performing. Take an example of a farm worker who is paid based on the number of bags or buckets he or she pick of the crop being harvested. This method of compensation discourages a worker from taking breaks for shade or water in an endeavour to increase the wage (Tomas Hellebrandt 6). Labour unions of respective countries also play a major role in determining the working conditions of the workers. Therefore, when these unions fail to execute their mandate of agitating for the rights of employees, there will be low remuneration. Also, workers of some professions such as the police and army are not allowed to join trade unions a situation that hinders their ability to bargain for increased salaries. In conclusion, low wages for long working hours is a common scenario across the globe. Low compensation is among the poor working conditions the employees face. Some of the possible explanations for this situation includes insufficient government regulation, profit motive among the business owners, compensation based on productivity and ineffective trade unions. Works Cited Dietz, Miranda, Ken Jacobs and Michael Reich. When mandates work : raising labor standards at the local level. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2014. Jerome Gautie, John Schmitt. Low-Wage Work in the Wealthy World. New York : Russell Sage Foundation , 2010. Tomas Hellebrandt, Michael Jarand, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, Tyler Moran, Adam S. Posen, Justin Wolfers, Jan Zilinsky. Raising lower-level wages : when and why it makes economic sense. Washington, D.C : Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2015.