Some negative effects which have been found include: Higher turnover among newer, lower-paid employees; a demoralized workforce.

If lower-paid employees' contributions are lower than expected, then the highly compensated employees will be limited in how much they can contribute.

And lower-paid employees are more likely than executives to prefer the cash, if the option is available, to a 401(k) contribution.

He also called for measures to favour lower-paid employees in respect of income tax, and for measures to help small businesses.

"So far only $2.5 billion is going to help lower-paid employees," he said, "but this is a growing figure."

We do take exception to the statement contained in the article that the law will do nothing for lower-paid employees.

The stores, in turn, hire even lower-paid employees away from restaurants and other establishments.

Other analysts believe the remaining large airlines will square off, using lower-paid employees and efficient new planes and equipment to put pressure on prices.

In many workplaces problems have been caused by pressure, when an attempt is made to achieve the same results with a reduced workforce of lower-paid employees.

The intent is to provide more complete coverage, particularly for lower-paid employees, but in some cases the result may be the opposite, he warned.