Nuns, pension funds and economic advocates submitted a resolution to Dine Brands Global Inc. asking the restaurateur to study how it could change the wage-and-tips model to pay workers. But shareholders of the Glendale company voted it down.

The resolution, voted on May 12 at the annual meeting of the parent company of Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar and IHOP, asked it “to prepare and make publicly available analysis of the feasibility of increasing tipped workers starting wages to a full minimum wage, per state and federal levels, with tips on top,” according to representatives.

Backers of the resolution included Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the nonprofit Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. It had the endorsement of One Fair Wage, a national nonprofit that advocates on behalf of restaurant workers earning a tipped subminimum wage, as well as the New York State Pension Fund and the New York City Pension Fund.

Many states allow employers to take a “tip credit,” meaning they include gratuities in minimum wage calculations. That allows an employer to credit a portion of an employee’s tips toward the employer’s obligation to meet the minimum wage. In these states, the tipped subminimum wage can be as low as $2.13 an hour.

At the Dine Brands meeting, the resolution was voted down by shareholders by a wide margin: nearly 12 million against the resolution versus nearly 1.7 million for it.

‘Financial benefits’

The Sisters of Charity of the...

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