Quote:
Originally Posted by tripin_billie
The one thing from the stimulus plan I'm looking forward to the most, because it directly makes the work my agency does easier, is the changes to minimum wage. The rate increase is great, but a critical change is the end of tipped wages and 14(c) subminimum wage for disabled employees. Tipped wages is such a compliance nightmare!
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Tipping is such a mess, but it's also going to be a mess to undo.
I've seen the argument play out many times. Restaurants/bars/breweries should pay their staff a living wage, and not have them rely on tips and shame on business for treating their staff like this. The business moves to some kind of model of including tips and paying a proper wage. Customers scream that they shouldn't be forced to pay tips, or don't like the higher prices. Servers and other tipped staff quit or complain because they were making more like $40-50/hr on tips and now get a steady $15/hour wage and say thanks a lot!
It's probably time to undo that model, but it's going to take a way some profitable, accessible jobs from a lot of people. Also, it's going to be tough on independent restaurants who are barely surviving or not surviving through COVID.
A $15 min wage is going to be hard for a lot of small businesses to absorb in a lot of parts of the country. It's really not a good plan for a country that has such economic diversity. Big cities easily can absorb a $15 wage, and probably should be more like $20. Smaller, urban areas where cost of living is a tiny fraction, it will really affect the local economy.