New York’s Tipped Minimum Wage Debate Reaches a Critical Mass
Photo Caption: A worker and customers at Hill Country Barbecue Market in New York City.
Skift Take
How restaurants compensate their employees in New York City and other markets is going to change radically in the coming years. The real question is how much chaos will exist during this period and how much harm will come to workers and the restaurants that employ them.
Today, New York City hosts the last public hearing in a months-long debate that's been simmering across the state this year. Right now, in 43 states, restaurants are allowed to pay a lesser, tipped minimum wage for workers who make some of their total income in tips. In New York City, this rate is $8.65 an hour for restaurants with 11 or more employees. The general minimum wage is $13 an hour. (By the end of the year, these amounts rise to $10 and $15, respectively.) This is referred to as the tip credit.
The credit is given under the assumption that tips will make up the gap between the tipped and general minimum wage, and if they do not, then the owner
