Wage should be decision between employer, employee

I am an 85-year-old self-employed businessman. I have never received a set salary — hourly-weekly or yearly. So maybe I am a bit prejudiced.

My lifestyle has always been regulated depended on the profitability of my business. Sometimes we hit the bottom of the barrel (patch those holes in your pants), and sometimes a decent profit (buy new pants). Certainly no help from the government has decided the profit or loss in my business. It has been dependent on the hard work, tough decisions, long hours, seven-day weeks, no sick days, no vacations with pay, no holidays.

Through the years, we have employed many dedicated people that helped our business prosper. Always our desire was to reimburse those people fully for their effort. It must be understood by the employee that for a business to pay a decent wage they, the employee, must earn the wage they receive plus an amount to maintain some of the business expenses involved—taxes, equipment, buildings, etc.

When an employer interviews a prospective employee, the salary should be a decision between two parties — employee and employer. The government should not be involved.

Fred Space
Wantage