WAGES

Editor’s note: The following op-ed was written by Patrick Foy, Kellie Connolly, Leeya Rollins, Marsha Mastromariano, Tyler Green and Mike Sheehan — all of whom work at the Copper Door Restaurant in Bedford.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been tough on everyone, but the restaurant industry has been especially harmed. One in six U.S. restaurants have shuttered and more than two million workers have lost their jobs. Some have been laid off, rehired and laid off again. In addition to the financial strain, the uncertainty is emotionally and mentally crippling.

Those of us lucky enough to still be working have a new battle to fight. As part of the Raise the Wage Act, Congress wants to eliminate the tip credit and enact a $15 minimum wage. As tipped employees, we are fully aware that right now there is a lower minimum wage in most states and a tip credit for tipped workers like waitstaff and bartenders. We also understand that our earnings are protected under the tip credit. If a tipped employee’s hourly rate plus tips doesn’t meet the standard minimum wage, their employer is legally obligated to make up the difference, so we’re never getting paid less than minimum wage.

This safety net is rarely used because the U.S. has a pro-tipping culture. With our hourly wage plus tips, most servers make between $19 and $25 an hour, far above the proposed $15 minimum wage. Elimination of the tip credit puts the tipping aspect of our culture at significant risk, which would inevitably lead to a drastic decrease in tipped employees’ earning potential.

Not only would elimination of the tip credit hurt the employees it’s meant to help, it would further devastate the restaurant industry. Most dine-in food service establishments operate on a thin 3% to 5% pre-tax profit margin. A $15 minimum wage for tipped employees would mean a triple-digit increase in tipped labor costs. Such an increase in labor costs will force price increases of as much as 20% to consumers, and still require benefit and staffing cuts throughout restaurants as a whole.

For the remaining workers, our motivation would plummet along with our tips.

It’s like telling a salesperson they can no longer work for commission — where is the incentive to go above and beyond if you won’t be rewarded accordingly? Our hourly wage secures our place as an employee of the restaurant, but it is the tips that help us thrive. Without them, many of us would reluctantly have to find a different career.

We have no issue with an increased minimum wage for non-tipped workers, but for our industry, the tipping model works for the guests, the employees and the company. It’s a perfectly balanced three-legged stool, which is how our company contemplates whether a decision is the right one in how it creates balance or not. If you give too much attention to any one leg of the stool, and not enough to another, the stool will topple over.

We are so passionate about keeping the tip credit in place that we’ve started a petition at welikeourtips.com. It’s a grassroots effort we put together with hopes of all tipped employees having their voices heard. We are the ones who will be impacted, so we are the ones lawmakers should listen to.

Together, the six of us have more than 50 years of experience in the restaurant industry. We’ve been through lean times and prosperous times. Any tipped employee choosing to work for a great company can attest to the value of the tipped employee to this industry, and the value tips have to our lives. We have fed our families, bought cars, purchased homes, paid medical bills, paid for our own schooling, the schooling of our children and so much more with our tips. Any thought that you need to protect us only devalues all that we have worked so hard for. It is by our own doing that we have succeeded and live our American dream.

Congress should get out of the way, let our restaurants recover and let us focus on serving our guests to earn our own living.