Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of RCPro: Blogged. Some of you may disagree, but I think the news has been rather slow and boring over the past few weeks, leaving me with a pretty bare plate of material. If there is one thing that is constant in the enthusiast community though, it is that there is always some conspiracy and ill will towards a major park or chain, and this week held true. One park that everyone loves to talk about is Cedar Point, and the employees (past, present, and future) love to make as much noise on the internet as the next enthusiast. What better topic for the employees to bring to our attention this week than the 2009 Cedar Point pay rate, and the ensuing debate that occurred on PointBuzz.

If - like me - you have worked at Cedar Point before or know someone that has, then you probably know that the pay is always a hot topic of discussion regardless of the situation. There are always those that feel the employees are underpaid, overworked, and generally not appreciated at all by management. On the other side of the fence are those that don’t really care, or see no need for Cedar Point to increase the pay, or even change how they communicate the value of the employees. More often than not I fall on the underpaid, undervalued side; though in this specific instance I like to think that I fall in the middle as a moderating source of information. When the 2009 application popped up on the Cedar Point website this year there was a piece of information missing that everyone was very interested in, the pay rate. As will happen, rumors had already been circulating about an increase in the base pay, and another cut to the bonus. Some had called HR to try and get information, and what they received was not exactly what they wanted to hear. According to early reports, the pay for 2009 was staying the same as 2008, $7/hr. and a $.35 bonus. However, this didn’t seem to make sense given that the Ohio minimum wage had risen to $7.30 on January 1, 2009. Once this point was brought up there was an outbreak of anger, idiocy, and in very few cases, levelheaded research and debate.

Before continuing any further into the story, there is one very important fact that needs to be completely understood by everyone reading this article. In cases where state rates differ with the federal rate, the higher wage rate always applies. This phrase can be found on several sites dealing with the minimum wage, and is further backed up by actual federal and state wage laws. For perspective and posterity, the federal minimum wage rises to $7.25 on July 24, 2009. Many over at PointBuzz initially thought that there would be an effective raise occurring at that point in the summer, until the above point about the higher wage rate prevailing became known. Eventually the idea that Cedar Point had found a loophole was brought up, though many immediately shot it down. The idea persisted until earlier today though, when I once again decided to interject some solid facts into the argument. Yesterday I had taken the time to fire off a quick e-mail to the Ohio Commerce Department to get an answer for myself on the matter, and around 3pm I found a reply, and answer, in my inbox. When I opened the email I was greeted with large, blue lettering that read “Cedar Point must pay minimum wage of $7.30 per hour.” Well, so much for the loophole theory. There it was, straight from someone in the Commerce Dept., laid out in the simplest language possible; Cedar Point must pay the Ohio minimum wage of $7.30 per hour, no way around it. If you are thinking that the $.35 bonus puts them safely above the Ohio minimum wage, think again. Both federal and state law make it clear that the minimum wage requirement must be satisfied by the base pay alone, without any bonuses or such included.

So far we’ve covered the basics of the situation, the essential letter of the law regarding the topic, and gotten an answer on the issue straight from an agent of the State. That covers everything, right? Well, the story isn’t done quite yet. Right now the $7.00/hour is an advertised, promised wage. Technically no law is broken until a check for $7.00/hour is written and disbursed to an employee, which obviously won’t happen for a few months yet. I do, however, question the legality of the contracts that Cedar Point will be sending out to employees in the coming weeks. These contracts lay out your contracted period of work, the (supposed) ride/location you will be at, and your pay rate for the summer. I can see a very large problem at hand if Cedar Point starts sending out contracts with a pay rate of $7/hour. It is not writing a check, but it is promising a wage to your employees, a wage that under state law is illegal. Hopefully things won’t come to that point, though, as I understand that the state may already be looking into the situation to make sure that Cedar Point does follow through and pay (and promise) employees the appropriate minimum wage.

In all, this whole conundrum over merely receiving minimum wage is really coming out of a desire to be appreciated and valued where they should be, instead of where one person at the top currently places their value. Unfortunately this is manifested in more ways than possibly substandard pay, and in a potentially physically hazardous way. I recently learned that the Health Board condemned a building in the Commons employee-housing complex. The building in question is the 1400 building, which I actually lived in during the 2007 season. I can attest to the horrible state of the building, and can also say that many times appeals were made to management to have the building taken care of. Reports for the black mold, bad utilities, and several other hazardous issues were made, but the problems persisted, with management very aware and remaining inactive. The pay rate is the very visible tip of a large iceberg, and an iceberg that I hope for the sake of my friends returning there gets taken care of before too long. The employee situation is something to take note of if you are a unit holder, or anyone interested in the success of Cedar Fair. It indicates the internal state of the company, one that from recent issues doesn’t seem to be that good.

As a closing note I would like to make a small disclaimer. I am not a lawyer or law student, and as such have based my findings off of my interpretation of the laws I researched. Take my reporting with a grain of salt, as with anything you read on the internet. Thank you for sticking with me through what has been a long and largely unexciting topic of discussion for many. Hopefully we’ll have some more exciting news over the next few weeks. As always, feel free to email me with your comments, suggestions, and negative remarks; and thanks for reading.