When the International Franchise Association filed its hilarious lawsuit against Seattle’s $15 minimum wage, its lawyers warned that the ordinance’s “discriminatory” provisions could “cause some franchisees to shut their doors.” Maybe. But you wouldn’t know it from the “NOW HIRING” signs plastered in the windows at the McDonald’s at 3rd & Pine in downtown Seattle.

And not only are they hiring, they’re hiring at $11.00 an hour—$3.75 an hour more than the $7.25 federal minimum wage, $1.53 more than the $9.47 state minimum wage, and $1 an hour more than a small Seattle business whose employees earn tips and/or health benefits. And yet despite these higher labor costs, this particular McDonald’s is still hiring, and at 10am on a Tuesday, the restaurant was still packed.

Go figure!

Yeah, sure, it’s only $11.00 an hour—it’ll take another few years for $15 to fully kick in on franchises. But that’s already a 52 percent premium over the federal minimum wage, and we aren’t seeing any negative employment effects yet. Which suggests there’s a bit more room to set wages above the “market” rate than minimum wage opponents like to admit.

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