The D.C. Council voted Monday night to slow and reduce periodic wage increases for tipped workers, which industry insiders blame for driving a record number of restaurant closures.
Under a ballot measure that voters approved by a wide margin, the hourly minimum wage for servers before tips nearly doubled from $5.35 in 2022 to $10 in 2023.
Known as Initiative 82, the law included regular increases that would have doubled it again to match the wage floor for non-tipped hourly workers – currently $17.95 and rising — by 2027.
On Monday, the Council voted 7-5 to amend the law, stretching out smaller increases over a decade and capping them at 75% of the non-tipped minimum by 2034.
Council member Christina Henderson, the budget amendment’s co-sponsor, said it offers “regular increases … paced at a rate that is fair and manageable” in response to increased financial pressures on businesses in recent years.
“Under this model, we would still have one of the highest tipped minimum wages in the country,” said Ms. Henderson, at-large independent.
The amended law will also require transparent pay stubs and financial reviews to track the effects on eateries and workers.
D.C. Council member Charles Allen, who co-sponsored the amendment with Ms. Henderson, said it is a compromise recognizing that steep increases would hurt restaurants now.
“While it slows the implementation down, it continues to close the gap between the tipped minimum wage and the full minimum wage,” said Mr. Allen,...
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