Monday, September 26, 2016

BUCKING THE TREND - Gravity Payments $70,000/yr Pay Raise

"This company raised minimum wage to $70,000 — and it helped business" PBS NewsHour 9/25/2016

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In 2015, Gravity Payments CEO Dan Price announced he would raise the company's minimum wage to $70,000 a year by 2017 and slash his own compensation by more than 90 percent.  More than a year later, Price reports the company's revenue and clientèle has grown substantially, despite critics' predictions that the move would be bad for business.  NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent John Larson reports.

RECEPTIONIST:  Gravity Payments, this is Korinne.

JOHN LARSON (NewsHour):  About a year-and-a-half ago, life changed for the 100 employees of Gravity Payments in Seattle when their boss, Dan Price, announced the company's minimum wage would jump to 70-thousand dollars a year.

DAN PRICE:  Effectively immediately, we are going to put a scaled policy into place, and we are going to have a minimum 70-thousand dollar pay rate for everyone that works here.

JOHN LARSON:  The hikes would be phased in.  A 50-thousand dollar a year minimum wage took effect immediately, and would rise to 60-thousand by the end of 2016, and 70-thousand in 2017.  Price said he'd help pay for the increases by slashing his own million dollar a year compensation by more than 90 percent to 70-thousand.

DAN PRICE:  I'm curious if anyone has any questions?

JOHN LARSON:  Stories of his announcement went viral.

CBS/SCOTT PELLEY:  Everyone is getting a raise at a Seattle-based company.

NBC/LESTER HOLT:  One boss just changed the lives of his employees.

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