> California doesn't have a special minimum wage for tipped professions?
The difference is where the money comes from: directly from employer vs directly from customer. But in all cases *the sum of these sources* must equal the minimum wage.
If the employee is not taking home at least minimum wage, then the employer is guilty of wage theft.
If the employer does not make at least $x towards an employee's wage, the employer is guilty of wage theft.
So instead, read the CA's (and AK, MN, MT, NV, OR, WA) rule as "tips may not be credited towards an employee's salary".
[0] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped
You keep posting this over and over as if states with a lower tipped minimum are equivalent to states with the same minimum, regardless of tips.
You're not wrong that, in states with a lower tipped minimum, the tips act as a credit. But you're ignoring what the power imbalance in those situations can do to an employee, and you're ignoring the fact that in states like that, tips paid by customers are effectively subsidizing the employer out of paying minimum wage.
And I don't think that it would be surprising that wage theft is more common in places where the tipped minimum is set lower than the general minimum.
As a customer, I would much rather know that the employer is paying the full fair minimum wage regardless, and any tip I leave will always be on top of that. I don't want to be paying a part of the employee's wage that the employer would otherwise be paying.
I hear you, but your solution sounds defeatist. Like there's nothing that can be done.
Not effectively, literally. That is what a credit is.But I'm making sure that the conversation is clear that anyone not making minimum wage is suffering from wage theft. We have to identify the right problem if we want to fix it.
I also like this idea. I don't think there should be a wage credit. It is helpful to reducing wage theft. While I would, personally, get rid of credits I don't think I'd get rid of tipping all together. Certainly at least not until there's a better minimum wage rate. You're always doing this. Either your money goes directly to the employee or is going to the employee through the intermediary of the employer. In the case you are not directly paying the employee you're paying the employer.> If the employer does not make at least $x towards an employee's wage, the employer is guilty of wage theft.
See what your server's reaction is if you tell them to report this wage theft.
They won't. They'll just suggest you tip them to compensate.
They should. It's easy to report. Doesn't matter if nothing happens right away, because the more reports that accumulate the higher priority it becomes.
So instead of trying to tell me how fruitless this is and just give up to endless arguments, maybe report wage theft if you know about it. You can do it anonymously. You can do it for people that tell you. It's not a hopeless situation. Hell, lawyers take payment after the case is won, and you know if your wage is being stolen then others are too
It's easy to report, but retaliation is a thing, and is hard -- and expensive -- to prove. Someone subject to wage theft is not the kind of person who can afford that trouble.
And it's not like restaurant owners don't talk among themselves. Getting blackballed isn't great.
Bottom line is that you seem to think that there's zero reason why people are shy about reporting wage theft. And yet so many people don't want to do it. Maybe try a little humility on and accept that maybe there are reasons you don't know about or don't understand. It's very easy to tell people what they should be doing when you don't have to walk in their shoes.
It also is not expensive. At least not more than the theft. Lawyers working on wage theft generally take payment as part of the recovery. You pay out of the winnings, not up front.
Honestly, a big part of the problem is that many people have defeatist attitudes. A lot of people don't even bother to make a report after they leave. It is hard to retaliate when you've left.
[0] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/retaliation
> it's not like restaurant owners don't talk among themselves
I’m sympathetic to the arguments, but this sounds like scaremongering.
If you have evidence of it, please post.
There are so many restaurants everywhere, just leave the worst place off your resume. I can’t see owners coordinating if there’s no online platform for it.