WASHINGTON (7News) — Initiative 82 kicks in Monday in the District. Restaurant employers are now required to raise the wages of tipped workers from $5.35 to $6 an hour.
There will be another two-dollar jump in July and by 2027, employers will have to pay tipped workers the same minimum wage as any other hourly D.C. workers. This measure passed unanimously earlier this year but restaurant owners and staff are concerned that tipped workers will now make less overall if diners don’t tip as much due to menu price increases and service fees.
The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released the results of a new survey of D.C. restaurants examining how the District’s tip credit elimination will impact their business models. More than a hundred restaurants found that operators are bracing for the negative consequences.
“What we are finding is that a large majority of restaurant operators said that they may have to again raise prices, they may have to introduce service charges, some even said they might eliminate tipping to keep customers coming in the door,” said EPI research director Rebekah Paxton.
The Employment Policies Institute was founded in 1991. D.C. residents overwhelmingly supported this initiative on a ballot last November, calling for fair wages across the table. Yet 85% of the restaurant owners surveyed indicated that tip credit elimination will force them to reduce the number of tipped staff over the next 4 years.
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