Don’t be so sure on it preventing turnover. There are probably more than a few that have worked hard to get to that magical $16 figure. Now some new person with less time in service and experience gets the same salary. I’m betting they’ll get no offset raise. Expect some people to be pretty unhappy.
That was my question. Every time min wage rises, many companies raise every other working employee’s wages to match the offset. Many companies don’t. Wonder if AETNA did? AZ has a min wage (last Jan it started, larger than federal) and new hires where my kid works started at a higher salary than some who had been there for a year or more. Incentive wages or job promotions that had been earned were NOT offset and increased. Bottom line, some that had been there a year were making what new hires got. If you didn’t like it (or were a longer term and had earned RAISES and you didn’t think it was RIGHT or FAIR), “don’t let the door hit ya in the butt on the way out”. So Much for Govt. being “FAIR”. The Govt. “fair” is always “unfair”.
My current employer just completed a "market wage" study and new hires (which now require MBA's) will start at slightly higher rate than my current wage built over 30 years of service. Happy I am not but at least there is the option of taking my services elsewhere. Companies can set their own wage policy, employees have the option of staying or leaving.