ARE YOU BEING LIED TO?
An out-of-state group of organizers has pushed a narrative about the tipped wage industry in Massachusetts that lacks empirical evidence and support from the very servers, bartenders, and other tipped employees they say they represent. Below are some basic facts that dispel the myths these California-based activists are pushing.
MYTH:
There is a sub-minimum wage in Massachusetts.
FACT:
EVERY worker in Massachusetts is already guaranteed to earn at least the current minimum wage of $15 including tipped employees. If, after wages and tips, an employee does not earn $15 per hour, the employer must pay the difference. In fact, when Congress codified the tip credit in 1966, the Congressional research service explained that the law does not mean that a tipped worker may earn a subminimum wage; rather the tip credit provisions change the composition of a worker’s earnings. Furthermore, the restaurant owner must pay all the contributory taxes, FICA, FUTA, and SUTA on both the tipped wage paid and the tips received from patrons.
MYTH:
The out-of-state organization pushing this ballot question represents tipped workers.
FACT:
A recent survey of tipped employees shows 90% of tipped employees oppose this ballot question and the tip pooling that would be implemented with its passage. Furthermore, a coalition of hundreds of tipped employees has already endorsed a NO vote on the ballot question because they believe it would reduce their pay due to fewer tips.
MYTH:
Tips are better in states without a tip credit.
FACT:
MYTH:
Activists in support of the ballot question say that “employees decide where the tips go”.
FACT:
Unfortunately, the proponents of this question seem to be unaware of the language they filed. Section 6 of the ballot question explicitly states that “the employer may require that wait staff employees, service employees or service bartenders participate in a tip pool through which such employee remits any wage, tip or service charge, or any portion thereof, for distribution to employees that are not wait staff employees, service employees or service bartenders”.
MYTH:
Eliminating the tip credit reduces sexual harassment in the workplace.
FACT:
Sexual harassment is unacceptable in all forms, but unfortunately occurs in every industry. However, studies show that there is no correlation between tipping and sexual harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is an organization that tracks data related to the restaurant industry and sexual harassment. Their data shows that the percentage of sexual harassment claims in the restaurant industry is nearly identical between tip credit states and those without it.
MYTH:
California proves that eliminating the tip credit is a good idea.
FACT:
According to an industry analysis performed by Toast, California consistently has the lowest tip average among all 50 states. Additionally, economists from Harvard Business School and Mathematica Policy Research, using data from Yelp, identified a 14 percent increase in Bay Area restaurant closures associated with each one dollar increase in the base wage for tipped employees.
MYTH:
The custom of tipping is racist and originated from slavery.
FACT:
This is patently false. The American custom of tipping was imported from western Europe, where providing a tip to workers in private homes was a common practice. University of Massachusetts-Amherst professor Gerald Friedman says tipping was not “particularly racial,” but rather “more a matter of customers showing off their wealth.” Additionally, Friedman points to southern states that passed laws early in the 20th century that made it illegal to receive tips as further disputing the notion of any link between tipping and slavery.