A five-year effort to increase the minimum and tipped wage is getting a day in court this week.
The Michigan Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Thursday, Dec. 7 for a case involving a 2018 ballot initiative. The petition sought to raise the minimum wage to $12 an hour and drastically increase wages for tipped workers who currently earn $3.84 an hour. It also aimed to expand paid sick leave.
But a Republican-led state legislature decided to adopt an amended version of the proposal in 2018 instead of letting voters decide the issue.
This kicked off a legal battle that has been winding its way through the courts since 2021. The Supreme Court justices will now decide whether to overturn a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling earlier this year that blocked wage increases for tipped workers – a wedge issue in the restaurant industry.
Related: Court reverses decision, stops Michigan tipped wage from increasing next month
Emma Caperton, a server at the Omelette Shoppe in Grand Rapids, is worried restaurants could eliminate tipping if workers start earning a standard minimum wage. Caperton, 24, estimates she earns roughly $20 an hour during an average shift because of tips.
Caperton spoke at a roundtable Monday, Dec. 4 organized by Save MI Tips ahead of the court hearing.
“I think that if they were to take that tip credit away, it would affect the servers and the amount of money that we would be making,” she told MLive.
Advocates for the ballot proposal disagree.
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