Restaurant employees voiced their opposition to proposals that would eliminate the tip credit.
Servers and bartenders from Montgomery and Prince George’s counties rallied Thursday against proposed legislation from both counties.
“This business is built on tips — gratuity,” said Clifton Killings, server at Clyde’s Tower Oaks Lodge in Rockville.
Clifton Killings, server in Rockville – @mymcmedia
Today in PG County — servers and bartenders from Montgomery and PG counties rallied AGAINST proposed elimination of tip credit pic.twitter.com/o5TzfdE7Ia
— Maryam Shahzad (@maryam_mcm) October 12, 2023
“You’re going to hurt the industry across the board, everywhere, because a restaurant only operates off of 3-5% profit, and that’s where this money is going to come from to pay us,” Killings said.
They gathered outside Jasper’s Restaurant in Largo and then marched to the P.G. County administration building ahead of a Prince George’s County Council meeting.
There is an upcoming public hearing before the Montgomery County Council for its own legislation.
According to council documents, the tip credit represents the amount of the minimum wage an employee is expected to make in tips. The current credit is the hourly minimum wage minus $4.
Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM) President and CEO Marshall Weston said that results from a survey of Montgomery and PG County servers/bartenders “overwhelmingly support keeping the current tipping system in place.”
“If tipped wages were eliminated, 89% believe that they will earn less money,” Weston said.
Four out of five of those surveyed believe their customers are unlikely to continue tipping on top of any service charge, Weston said, and the same amount said they would quit their job and work in a jurisdiction that has the tip credit.
According to RAM, under the proposal, tipped employees would have to be paid the full minimum wage instead of the current lower rates — $4 per hour in Montgomery County — plus tips. Restaurants “will be forced” to raise prices and institute mandatory service charges to pay for increased base wages, RAM states, and “customers are unlikely to tip on top of service charges.”
Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando introduced the bill last month to phase out the tip credit by 2028. Councilmember Kristin Mink is cosponsor.
Jawando previously said the bill will pay tipped workers a “full minimum wage with tips on top.”
He said that “Every worker deserves the dignity of being paid a fair wage.”
Per a release from RAM, employers are required by law to make up any deficiencies if an employee does not make enough in base wages and tips to reach the minimum wage.
The Montgomery County Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday afternoon for its bill.
