During the past two years, global housing and food insecurity have both risen significantly. As a resident and independent business owner in one of the most-expensive metro areas in the US, I’ve seen these insecurities locally (as well as through limited travel during the pandemic) firsthand. Even though Compelling has the limited platform and resources of a small, independent business, I want to make sure we’re walking the walk of addressing this through something more meaningful than raising our prices, or adding some sort of temporary pandemic pay.
I think the solution is to, as of today (February 5th, 2022), commit company-wide to guaranteeing an hourly wage on-par with Professor Amy Glasmeier’s MIT Living Wage calculator for Los Angeles County. This means each of our employees will be guaranteed to be paid a minimum gross pay of $19.35/hour for work, regardless of tips and bonuses received on their weekly paycheck. It’s my hope that this commitment makes our employees feel more secure in their work, without having to feel like they need to hustle for tips in order to get their paycheck to a point where they feel comfortable. I do not anticipate that the hours, bonuses, or the current tip structure in our cafe will be affected.
I am excited to take this first step and examine the impact this has on the security of Compelling’s employees, and promise to continually assess and improve this policy as needed. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with any questions or feedback: [email protected]