As the weather warms up, tourists will flock to South Dakota to visit sites like Mount Rushmore, stopping at restaurants along the way. As they sit down to eat, they may not realize a new national survey found women working in the hospitality field describe a worsening environment of harassment and wage theft.
The findings are from the group One Fair Wage. Half of all women and nearly six in 10 women of color said they are not getting enough tips to earn the full minimum wage required by law, and 73% of women report regularly experiencing or witnessing sexual harassment by customers.
Saru Jayaraman, president of the group One Fair Wage, said women have been the face of establishments during the pandemic.
"Asking me to enforce these COVID rules, vaccination card rules, mask rules, social distancing rules on the very same people from whom I have to get tips to survive? That is unlivable," Jayaraman asserted.
She pointed out harassment includes a customer threatening to not tip unless the server removes her mask to show what she looks like. The group noted while some independent restaurants are improving their wages, many national chains are not.
A bill in Congress to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour faces hurdles amid debate it could lead to job losses.
The bill also would prohibit subminimum wages for tipped employees. They get a smaller base pay, with the difference covered by tips or the employer to reach the state level. But Jayaraman argued the requirement...
In January of 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice reported a record-breaking year for False Claims Act recoveries, with the vast majority related to healthcare. What the DOJ report does not captu...