Reply #22: "If you think that an employer pays half..... [View All]

[bertman]

and it does not come out of the employee's pocket in the end, then you have a very naive view of business budgeting."

That is a gross simplification. FICA has been mandated for decades. Business owners have this built in to their business model and do not have the luxury of paying 6% lower wages just to recoup the cost of FICA. At least if they value getting and keeping quality employees.

FICA is part of the operating cost of doing business. As such it is part of the expenses that every company has to pay just to be legal and stay afloat. You are insinuating that business owners make those matching payments by taking them out of the workers' paychecks and thus they are part of the wage structure.

Wages are based on the prevailing rate of pay for jobs of a particular type at a given time in a given location. They are just one of many expenses that have to be paid for, such as operating and maintaining a physical facility/office, providing support staff, paying for benefits, providing workers' compensation coverage, advertising budget, phone and internet costs, vehicular expenses, safety training and equipment, paying local and state taxes, and many other costs depending upon the type of business.

Would business owners take the windfall of 6% of wages as bonuses if the chance arose. Certainly some of them would. Others might view it as a way to make their bids more competitive and thus to have more business. Some might even offer to enhance their employees' benefits package.