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Last week, the Council unanimously approved raising the minimum wage in D.C. to $11.50 an hour by 2016.
The measure has one more vote to go before it reaches Mayor Vince Gray, who supports an immediate hike to $10 but no further automatic raises. If the Council once again passes the measure unanimously, it would be veto-proof.
While the bill is a victory for groups who support raising the minimum wage, some feel it leaves tipped workers out in the cold. In D.C., the majority of employees are guaranteed a minimum wage of $8.25 an hour. But for tipped workers, they are guaranteed a base minimum wage of $2.77 an hour plus at least $5.48 in tips. If they don’t make that much in tips, the employer is required to make up the difference.
But at the moment, there is no certification process or body that ensures restaurant employees are being paid a tip credit.
According to Liz DeBarros of the D.C. Department of Employment Services, employees who say they aren’t being paid the tip credit can file a complaint at the Wage and Hour office, online and by phone. The complaint is then investigated, with Wage and Hour employees reaching out to the employer and getting payroll information.
DeBarros says that most complaints are about overtime issues or complete nonpayment. There are virtually no complaints about the tip credit, she said. Since 2010, for example, DeBarros said the office has received just two complaints, one that an employer wasn’t paying and the other that payment wasn’t received.
Employment Services is required to put up a poster about the tip credit at workplaces, DeBarros said. They also field calls from employers about the tip credit and will respond to questions.
While the city says it’s not receiving complaints, servers say they have regularly not been paid the minimum wage.
At a recent forum on the minimum wage hosted by the Institute for Policy Studies and Restaurant Opportunities Centers United at a Busboys and Poets (Yes, mayoral candidate Andy Shallal was present), two servers spoke of the challenges of living off the tipped minimum wage and said they have been stiffed before.
“Absolutely not,” one server said at the forum when asked if she’s always paid at least $8.25 an hour. “The best you’re going to do [during tourism season] is going to meet that.” The server said that in one week during the government shutdown, she made just $40.
Another server, who said she has been in the business for 13 years, said she’d only recently heard about the tip credit. “I said, ‘Wow, oh wow. I’ve never heard of or seen that wage being made.'”
“Everybody just assumes it’s made.”
Jeremiah Lowery from ROC United said that employer and employee ignorance can lead to workers not being paid $8.25 an hour. He added that some employees “are afraid to speak up” for fear they’ll lose their job.
Organizer Emma Cleveland said at the forum she’s seen “rampant wage theft” of people who works as dish washers and barbacks.
The Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, however, says “The average hourly wage for tipped workers nationally is $16 to $22 per hour, and is higher in the District.”
While the Council’s minimum wage bill does not address raising the base wage for these types of workers, it would “strengthen the notification and enforcement requirements of the tipped credit law.”
The bill as amended would require employers who hire employees that rely on gratuities to certify on a quarterly basis that their employees are receiving at least the minimum wage. The employer’s certifications would be subject to random audits by the Department of Employment Services to ensure compliance. Employers who fail to comply with the requirements of the act shall be subject to fines and other penalties. The Committee will keep a close watch on the audits conducted by the Department of Employment Services and may need to address this issue again in the future.
Councilmember Mary Cheh, however, still wants to raise the base minimum wage for tipped workers and introduced an amendment to do so. The bill, which would raise the tipped minimum wage to $5.75 by 2016, was met with no co-sponsors.
