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Topic: Minimum Wage in Bitcoin (Read 1991 times)

hero member
Activity: 988
Merit: 1000
August 09, 2014, 03:53:37 PM
#16
You would need to pay taxes on employee wadges in fiat as the US/state governments do not accept BTC for payment of taxes.

I also don't think this would work very well with employee retention as most people working in a minimum wage job do not know about BTC nor do they have the resources to learn about it. They also likely would need fiat to pay for most of their expenses.
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
August 08, 2014, 07:23:49 AM
#15
Minimum wage really doesn't apply online. For example odesk.com has many jobs that pay below $3/hour and they don't really have to deal with legal issues about it.

Yes, because it is a company that is essentially like a craigslist.  They aren't technically paying you per hour.  You are getting hired by random people who need a job done...So of course they don't have to deal with minimum wage. 

But yes, online companies do need to worry about minimum wage, if they are in the states and paying employees the least they can pay them is the minimum wage for whatever state they are located in.

hero member
Activity: 854
Merit: 500
August 08, 2014, 06:06:31 AM
#14
Minimum wage really doesn't apply online. For example odesk.com has many jobs that pay below $3/hour and they don't really have to deal with legal issues about it.
full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
August 08, 2014, 06:03:01 AM
#13
if it's not against the law i suggest you proceed at least there's bitpay right
legendary
Activity: 1456
Merit: 1001
This is the land of wolves now & you're not a wolf
August 06, 2014, 01:45:01 PM
#12
I've come across someone developing http://Bitwage.co neat solution for payroll in Bitcoin.

I'm not sure how much of the paperwork it does.

Last I heard of that company, they were still in development in cases where you are paying employees W2 wages in BTC.   From what I had heard so far, they were only set up to pay employees like independent contractors (with 1099s)
hero member
Activity: 924
Merit: 1000
August 06, 2014, 11:38:44 AM
#11
i agree, minimum wage vs bitcoin isn't the issue. The government wants everything noted in USD, then if you want to pay in btc, you must convert that pay into BTC. so, if todays minimum wage is .001btc, then thats what you must pay, also, you must still pay all taxes, but i doubt the govt will take it in btc, that will have to be done in fiat..
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
August 06, 2014, 09:18:18 AM
#10

That is what I am wondering. Are the minimum wage laws written so that property based wages can be in compliance so long as they exceed the wage, or must x amount of dollars be paid.

I highly doubt minimum wage laws have anything to do with property based wages, they probably don't even mention it...


I think you probably won't find an exact answer as its still new and they just reformed that Bitcoin is a property in the US.  I still don't think they have any good way to track who is buying & selling coins...
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1003
August 06, 2014, 08:26:46 AM
#9
Before any companies can start thinking about paying it bitcoin the mentality would have to be the salary is x BTC per hour not x amount of dollars worth of BTC an hour - other wise there is no benefit.

Until we start seeing less market volatility that's probably not going to happen. Although I could see maybe "you'll be paid x BTC per hour this month, adjusted relative to the USD exchange rate each month thereafter."



I know several companies pay in Bitcoin, and since Bitcoin is considered not a currency I don't think they are getting paid technically at all.

I guess a lot of it depends on what your business makes for income as well.  Do you get paid in actual fiat cash or bitcoins?  Cause if you are technically making Bitcoins as income, I would think you would just have to pay taxes as property and not income...

That is what I am wondering. Are the minimum wage laws written so that property based wages can be in compliance so long as they exceed the wage, or must x amount of dollars be paid.
hero member
Activity: 784
Merit: 1000
August 06, 2014, 08:18:30 AM
#8
I know several companies pay in Bitcoin, and since Bitcoin is considered not a currency I don't think they are getting paid technically at all.

I guess a lot of it depends on what your business makes for income as well.  Do you get paid in actual fiat cash or bitcoins?  Cause if you are technically making Bitcoins as income, I would think you would just have to pay taxes as property and not income...
sr. member
Activity: 280
Merit: 250
August 06, 2014, 08:16:32 AM
#7
They're are multiple ways already out there to manage this. It's really encouraging how some employers are already looking into this. Hooefully most, if not all, employers will pay with bitcoin within the next 25 years.
sr. member
Activity: 518
Merit: 250
August 06, 2014, 07:31:12 AM
#6
Before any companies can start thinking about paying it bitcoin the mentality would have to be the salary is x BTC per hour not x amount of dollars worth of BTC an hour - other wise there is no benefit.

Some companies pay part of the salary in BTC, but I think to pay all of the salary in BTC makes sense only if your employees are spread across the globe. I read in another thread BTC will overtake USD in about 7 years, so I think this mentality could change soon.
hero member
Activity: 586
Merit: 500
August 06, 2014, 04:43:52 AM
#5
Bitpay have released a payroll solution I believe.

See here: https://bitpay.com/bitcoin-payroll-api

Should be pretty interesting, we were just discussing in the office this morning that we'd love to be paid in bitcoin.
full member
Activity: 154
Merit: 100
August 06, 2014, 02:42:09 AM
#4
Before any companies can start thinking about paying it bitcoin the mentality would have to be the salary is x BTC per hour not x amount of dollars worth of BTC an hour - other wise there is no benefit.
member
Activity: 101
Merit: 10
August 06, 2014, 01:54:50 AM
#3
I've come across someone developing http://Bitwage.co neat solution for payroll in Bitcoin.

I'm not sure how much of the paperwork it does.
sr. member
Activity: 434
Merit: 250
Loose lips sink sigs!
August 06, 2014, 01:06:16 AM
#2
I'm sure that as long as the Government gets its portion of taxes in USD and the employee agrees to it you might be able to make it work.

Of course the Feds might find any number of bullshit ways to get in your way, but those two requirements above are the only key things I can think of that you'd need to satisfy.
legendary
Activity: 1330
Merit: 1003
August 06, 2014, 12:52:22 AM
#1
What would happen if I started a small business and wanted to pay my employees entirely in Bitcoin with regards to the US minimum wage laws? I'm assuming I couldn't pay employees anything less than the minimum wage in Bitcoin, but would paying entirely in Bitcoin even be legal?

If the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, and I'm paying 15 mBTC per hour, in the eyes of the law am I in compliance? Or would I be in violation since I am paying $0 USD? In other words, can the minimum wage be met by a non-USD payment, or would I have to pay $7.25 of the employee's salary in USD?

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