“The Minimum Wage Movement is Gaining Momentum: Tip Earners Included!

This year, more and more states are considering implementing laws to require employers to pay full minimum wages to employees who earn tips. This move is part of an ongoing effort to combat wage theft and close the gender pay gap. The law is designed to ensure that employers are not taking advantage of workers by relying on tips to bring their wages to the federal minimum wage. Currently, 29 states and Washington D.C. have passed laws that require a full minimum wage for tipped employees. Prior to this law, tipped employees in many states were only required by federal law to be paid $2.13 an hour, with the rest of their wages made up of tips. This system, despite its ubiquity, is inherently exploitative. Tipped employees are often female, yet the wages they earned were still insufficient to pay the rent, buy groceries, or get medical care—making them more vulnerable than other employees. This new law is aimed at giving tipped employees the same minimum wage protection that all other employees are afforded. Employers in states where the law has been codified must now provide their employees with the applicable minimum wage, usually between $7.25 and $12 an hour, depending on the state. In addition, some states have added additional labor protections, such as the right to keep tips earned and overtime pay at time and a half of the employee’s regular pay rate, which will further help to cushion tipped employees against exploitation. This law is a huge move forward in helping to reduce wage inequality among tipped employees in the US, and will hopefully have a lasting impact on the nation’s economy. By providing more financial security to such a large section of the population, states that have adopted these laws are giving their residents the opportunity to earn better pay and have greater financial freedom. This in turn is giving workers more bargaining power, which could have a positive effect on income levels nationwide.