THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 8, 1995 TAG: 9512080058
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANET DUNPHY, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
YOU'RE IN LUCK. Hampton Roads is a service-driven area packed with retail stores, grocery stores, full-service restaurants and fast-food eateries. All require part-time workers, which is where you come in.
According to child labor laws you are not allowed to do any hazardous work, so until you are 18, forget changing tires, working on any assembly lines with conveyor belts or using a meat slicer.
The first thing you need to do is think about where you do - or don't - want to work.
The average hourly pay is usually between $4.25, which is minimum wage, and $4.75 an hour, says John Shirley, a job services supervisor at the Virginia Beach office of the Virginia Employment Commission.
Temporary seasonal work pays about the same. In the summertime those jobs might include outdoor parks, hotel and restaurant work. During the holidays most jobs would be in retail.
If higher pay is what you're after, check out the multitude of fast-food restaurants. Most of them do start people at minimum wage but they are willing to advance beginners quickly, within several weeks, provided they've got the right stuff (please see box). Raises usually come in 10-, 15- or 25-cents increments. It may not seem like much but it does add up over the long run.
``Some of the fast-food places have gotten to the point where they know they won't get employees if they don't pay a little more,'' says Shirley. His own daughter worked fast-food over the summer and was earning $5 an hour by the time she quit for school.
``The fast-food managers love it,'' adds Shirley. ``They're getting the cream of America's crop.''
Full-service restaurants pay more than the fast-food eateries but the pay scale is a closely guarded secret among chains like Red Lobster. ``I don't want the competition down the street to know what we're paying,'' says Teresa Hubbard, manager of the Red Lobster at Chesapeake Square, admitting that it might be a little more than $5 an hour.
While the pay may start out better, advancement may also take a little longer. Prior experience, even if it's fast-food, is a plus. Hubbard also says maturity plays a big role in who she hires and who stays.
Retail establishments, such as large department stores, won't even discuss wages unless it involves a one-on-one interview with a potential employee. Local representatives of JC Penney, Hecht's and Leggett all declined to be quoted.
``Nobody wants their competitor to know what they pay,'' says Shirley. ``They work on a very small profit margin. Labor is the largest chunk of cash flow a business has. They have to meet that payroll every week.''
But one representative of an athletic apparel company with 10 stores in Hampton Roads spoke anonymously. ``We just changed our pay scale, bumped it up over the summer,'' she said, adding that employees are paid $4.50 an hour and receive a 10 to 20 percent discount on merchandise.
``It's hard to attract people at $4.25. That fast-food dollar seems to be setting the standard for low pay. We went to $4.50 just hoping to take the edge off that a little bit,'' she said. by CNB