A state House bill (HB 6056) was recently introduced that would amend Michigan's new minimum wage law. It would allow the law to go into effect early next year that increases the minimum wage for most hourly workers — but the new bill would amend that law to exempt tipped workers from the increases.
The bill would retain the subminimum wage for tipped workers, currently $3.93 an hour, and due to increase to $4.01 an hour on January 1, 2025.
If the bill doesn't pass, within about five years, the law would require restaurants to pay tipped workers the regular minimum wage.
Representative Nate Shannon (D-Sterling Heights) introduced the bill. He said his office tried to find workers who are in favor of the law.
"Not one has reached out to us, because they don't want this," Shannon said. "When I was in college, I was a server for many years. I would not have done that job for minimum wage," he said. "I made more than $15 an hour (with tips) and that was years ago."
The group "Save MI Tips" rallied hundreds of waiters and bartenders at the state Capitol in September against the new law.
"Tipping as we know it will be gone forever. Our jobs will be, too," the group's website declares. The group did not respond to a request for comment made to members on its Facebook page.
Justin Winslow is President of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association. He said restaurants will have to raise menu prices if they are paying workers the full minimum wage, and he said some could even close.
And he said it's clear — from the number of people attending the September rally — that workers don't want the change either.
"We [workers] didn't ask for this," Winslow said, speaking on behalf of restaurant employees. "We think that this law change will actually make things much worse for us, and I might be out of a job or just making less money than I am right now."
Winslow hopes the bill can be passed during the lame duck session in Lansing. He said restaurant owners are in limbo, not knowing how to plan for hiring or other changes for the coming year.
Several Michigan labor unions and the labor group One Fair Wage oppose Shannon's bill. One Fair Wage says restaurant workers deserve a regular minimum wage in addition to tips.
