Speaking of ballot questions, a panel of three District of Columbia appellate judges ruled this week that the measure to eliminate the tip credit in the Nation’s Capitol should remain on the ballot for voters to decide in November. The DC measure is similar to another that was passed by voters in 2018 only to have…
Read More »In the wake of public hearings being held last week up in Portland Maine, the Portland City Council voted to approve a ballot measure raising the minimum wage within Maine’s largest city and put it before the voters this November. The initiative would raise the current minimum waged of $13 per hour to $18 an…
Read More »It seems to be the issue that just won’t go away, but the District of Columbia Superior Court has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the validity of signatures gathered to certify Initiative 82 for the November ballot. The suit was filed by a local bartender who wants to continue to collect tips rather than be paid…
Read More »The Pennsylvania Attorney General has approved a 2021 proposal by the state Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) to dramatically amend the state regulations governing wage payments for tipped workers. Current law provided a monthly tipped employee threshold of $30 in tips before an employer could take the tip credit and pay the authorized tipped…
Read More »It may be known as Little Rhody, but the tiny state of Rhode Island comes up big now with a new tip protection law on the books. Governor Dan McKee signed H7510A into law on June 28 and it became effective immediately at that time. The law prohibits employers from retaining any portion of an…
Read More »One Fair Wage, the wholly-owned non-profit political arm of the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) that is backed (and financed?) by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is now bringing pressure on company stockholders to eliminate tip credits. Through stockholders, including the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica and the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed…
Read More »Proponents of Initiative 82 in the District of Columbia have submitted 34,000 voter signatures – over 8,000 more than required – to place the ballot initiative on the June primary ballot eliminating the tipped wage in the Nation’s Capital and forcing employers to pay the full DC minimum wage beginning in 2027. Currently, the minimum…
Read More »Although it seems we’ve been advising on the changes – and changes back – regarding the federal tip credit rules for quite some time, there is still news to report. Last week, along with the Texas Restaurant Association, the National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Law Center (NRA) filed an emergency motion seeking a temporary injunction against…
Read More »Massachusetts lawmakers are now considering legislation that would phase out the state tipped minimum wage and mandate one uniform minimum wage by 2028. Under the legislation filed by Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier (Pittsfield), the current tipped worker wage of $5.55 (and slated to rise to $6.75 by 2023) would be phased out as the tipped wage…
Read More »The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a new rule on tip pooling last Friday that subject employers to more significant monetary penalties for mishandling workers’ tips. Under the previous DOL regulation, put in place during the Trump administration, an employer could be subjected to civil penalties if the employer’s action of mishandling or illegally…
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