Restauranteur Chris Andrus has no problem raising the minimum wage. His business, The Mitten Brewing Company, already did six months ago.
The brewery was one of four Grand Rapids restaurants that pledged to raise their minimum wages to $15. What they didn’t do is eliminate the tipped wage. Instead, they boosted pay for back-of-the-house employees and installed a safety net for servers, promising to make up the difference if gratuities didn’t bring wages to $15 an hour.
Since June, Andrus said they haven’t had to augment a server’s wage at the end of a shift.
A 2018 ballot proposal would increase Michigan’s minimum wage to $13.03 and $11.73 for tipped employees in 2023. By 2024, the tipped wage is to equal the minimum.
The restaurant industry has been debating the wage increase since the measure became entangled in a legal battle over the summer. Advocates say it puts the state on a long overdue path to a living wage. Opponents say it’s not the right solution or the right time.
Increasing tipped wages would be giving a raise to the wrong section of the restaurant, Andrus said. Servers often make more on tips than their counter parts in the kitchen on an hourly wage.
“You’re spraying water on the house that isn’t on fire,” Andrus said. “And letting the one that is burn.”
As it stands now the wage increase could go into effect February 2023. Ongoing litigation could change this, though. A Court of Appeals decision is expected by Feb. 1.
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