Re: AltInst: a "work spreading tax"

Currently the fixed costs of hiring an employee in the US are heavily
weighted by the way various payroll taxes work. A number of taxes such
unemployement and state disability have relatively low cutoff points, so
extra hours are not included. More importantly, most medical insurance
plans are the same once the employee qualifies (usually over 20 hours a week).

Payroll processing costs, paperwork costs, and hiring costs do not go up
when an employee is paid overtime. Perhaps the most expensive, hidden
fixed cost is training.

On an overt level, many jobs are not suitable for designing a second shift.
Adding people during the day mean adding an additional employee typically
means having to add equipment, furniture, office or shop floor space,
telephone connections, etc.

Perhaps the easiest way to "split up work" is to use service contractors
with their own equipment who are able to telecommute. Unfortunately,
American labor law actively discourages this.

George L. O'Brien (Certified Management Accountant)

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Received on Fri May 29 22:26:23 1998