May 19, 2023

New Research Finds Minimum Wages Are Still Costing Employees Jobs, Earnings

Pushes to raise minimum wages are popping up across the country – with inflationary increases as high as $19.08 per hour in West Hollywood, CA starting on July 1 and proposals for as much as $30 hourly minimum wages in places like Los Angeles. These efforts are capped by recent…
May 12, 2023

Setting the Record Straight on Bogus Claims Behind CA’s Anti-Franchisee Bill

In the California Assembly’s Appropriations Committee earlier this month, legislators heard testimony for and against AB 1228 – a bill entitled the Fast Food Franchisor Responsibility Act – which would target franchised fast food restaurants statewide by making small business owner franchisees and larger corporate brands jointly liable for…
May 5, 2023

New Survey Shows Devastating Impacts of D.C.’s Tip Credit Elimination

This week, Washington, D.C. implemented its first of several tipped minimum wage hikes that will eliminate the city’s tip credit entirely by 2027. The May 1 increase raised the tipped minimum wage from $5.35 per hour to $6 per hour, but will increase again on July 1 to $8 per…
April 28, 2023

CA Data Debunks Unions’ Claim Against Franchisees

Last year, voters submitted over a million signatures to delay the implementation of AB 257, the FAST Recovery Act, when data showed the state’s fast food industry was being unfairly targeted. The bill sought to install an unelected regulatory council to set workplace standards such as hours and wages for…
New York April 21, 2023

New York’s War Against Its Tip Credit Is Hurting Restaurants

As New York has diminished its tip credit and raised regular and tipped minimum wages over the last several years, the state’s full-service restaurant industry, which employs the majority of tipped workers, has experienced declines in both annual employment and annual establishment growth. New York has the smallest tip…
Pennsylvania April 7, 2023

The Fight for $15 Is Still a Bad Idea for Pennsylvania

After newly-elected Governor Josh Shapiro raised the issue in his budget address, some are renewing efforts to enact a $15 minimum wage in Pennsylvania. Activists and lawmakers have tried to push the Fight for $15 for years in the Commonwealth, but have been blocked by concerns over…
March 24, 2023

$15 Wage States Are Already More than Doubling Inflation

As the debate over how high minimum wages should reach continues, eyes are on New York as progressive lawmakers push for a forty percent statutory increase to $20 per hour before tying the rate to inflation. Proponents of the bill argue that New York’s minimum wage has fallen behind inflation…
March 17, 2023

The Fight Against Tip Credit Elimination Across the Country

As state legislatures spring into action, several bills across the country are targeting tip credits that allow restaurant employers to count tips toward the regular minimum wage requirement. This is part of a larger campaign by union activists at Restaurant Opportunities Center-affiliated One Fair Wage – pledging a $25 million…
March 10, 2023

New Data: One Flat Wage States See Lower Tips

Proponents of eliminating state tip credits mislead workers and lawmakers by arguing that doing so won’t hurt their tips. New data from point-of-sale tech giant Toast tells a different story. Seven states, as well as the District of Columbia, have enacted no-tip credit laws, meaning restaurants and bars are…
February 10, 2023

After pushing for tip credit elimination, Biden wants to increase taxes on tipped workers

In his state of the union address this week, President Joe Biden doubled down on a mantra that no one earning less than $400,000 a year would pay new taxes. But the administration’s Internal Revenue Service quietly rolled out a new program to single out tipped restaurant workers to pay…