Minimum Wage Bill Goes to U.S. Senate, If Passed, Will Have Ramifications on California Employers
The Estate Tax and Extension of Tax Relief Act of 2006, H.R. 5970, which passed the House on July 29, 2006 and is now in front of the U.S. Senate, proposes to raise the national minimum wage to $7.25 over a three year period.
The provision of the bill that would permit employers across the country to credit tips earned by employees against the minimum wage requirements is one of the many issues that are being debated currently. Below is an explanation of the tip credit and some possible ramifications for California employers and employees.
All But Seven States Permit Tip Credits
All but seven states currently permit employers to count the amount tipped employees earn in tips towards their minimum wage. The seven states that do not allow tip credits are: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. H.R. 5970 proposes to bring California and the other six states into conformity with the rest of the country by requiring all states to recognize a tip credit.
What Is a Tip Credit?
Under federal law, employers are allowed to pay a lower hourly wage to employees who qualify as a tipped employee so long as the employee’s total wages (the lower minimum wage paid by the employer and the tips received) equal at least the standard federal minimum wage, currently $5.15 per hour. To qualify as a tipped employee, the employee must earn more than $30 per month in tips. Under current federal law, if the employee meets these requirements, then employers may pay them $2.13 per hour, instead of the $5.15 standard minimum wage per hour. Contrary to many politicized statements on this topic, a tipped employee is still guaranteed to make minimum wage.
Many states have different requirements that are more employee-friendly than the federal tip credit law, and therefore the state law is applicable even if the Senate bill is passed. Click here for a chart describing the state requirements. Click here for a Department of Labor “Fact Sheet” pertaining to tipped employees.
How Would the Senate Bill Impact California Employers and Employees?
Currently in California, employers must pay tipped employees the full state minimum wage of $6.75 per hour, and cannot offset any of this amount by the employee’s tips. If the bill passes, employees will still be guaranteed to earn at least the state minimum wage. The only difference is that the tips earned by employees could then counted towards the $6.75 per hour minimum wage amount. For example, if the bill passes, California employers could pay tipped employees $2.13 per hour so long as the employee earned at least another $4.62 per hour in tips ($2.13 + $4.62= $6.75). If the tipped employee does not earn enough tips to reach the $6.75 minimum wage threshold, then the employer will have to pay the difference to guarantee that the employee makes at least $6.75 per hour.
“Controversy” Surrounding the Tip Credit Provision
Some politicians, mostly Democrats, oppose the tip credit language in the bill because they argue it constitutes a wage reduction for tipped employees in the seven states that do not have a tip credit. However, the rationale for the minimum wage was to set the minimum that workers earn in the United States, and tipped employees are not minimum wage earners. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report that “Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations” nationally earn on average $8.55 per hour as of May 2005, as reported here.
In California, these same employees earn on average $9.17 per hour as of May 2005, as reported here. On both the national level and in California, tipped employees who work in restaurants are paid well above the applicable minimum wage. Moreover, tipped employee’s “wages” increase each year when restaurants raise their menu prices because tips left are based on a percentage of the total bill, unlike minimum wage earners who do not receive tips.
Furthermore, employers must pay payroll taxes including FICA (social security tax), SUTA (state unemployment taxes) and FUTA (federal unemployment taxes) on employee tips. Since employers must contribute their share of payroll taxes on these amounts, they should get credit for having paid these amounts towards an employee’s minimum wage. This was the rationale for having a tip credit in the 43 states that recognize a tip credit.
Having a tip credit in California could also help equalize the disparity in wages often seen between the tipped employees and the “back of the house” employees. For example, cooks are often paid much less per hour than servers, and, ironically, are prohibited by California law from participating in tip pools (tip pools are different than the topic of tip credits - click here and here for prior posts on tip pools under California law). So unlike servers, they do not have the benefit of receiving additional income from patrons. If permitted to apply a tip credit to a server’s minimum wage, a restaurant owner would have more resources he or she could redistribute to other staff members who are currently prohibited from participating in tip pools under California state law.
It is uncertain whether this bill will pass the Senate, but whether it does or not, the issue of a tip credit for employers in California will be hotly debated for some time to come.
UPDATE: The Senate failed to pass the minimum wage increase bill on Thursday, August 3, 2006. Click here for article.
The provision of the bill that would permit employers across the country to credit tips earned by employees against the minimum wage requirements is one of the many issues that are being debated currently. Below is an explanation of the tip credit and some possible ramifications for California employers and employees.
All But Seven States Permit Tip Credits
All but seven states currently permit employers to count the amount tipped employees earn in tips towards their minimum wage. The seven states that do not allow tip credits are: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. H.R. 5970 proposes to bring California and the other six states into conformity with the rest of the country by requiring all states to recognize a tip credit.
What Is a Tip Credit?
Under federal law, employers are allowed to pay a lower hourly wage to employees who qualify as a tipped employee so long as the employee’s total wages (the lower minimum wage paid by the employer and the tips received) equal at least the standard federal minimum wage, currently $5.15 per hour. To qualify as a tipped employee, the employee must earn more than $30 per month in tips. Under current federal law, if the employee meets these requirements, then employers may pay them $2.13 per hour, instead of the $5.15 standard minimum wage per hour. Contrary to many politicized statements on this topic, a tipped employee is still guaranteed to make minimum wage.
Many states have different requirements that are more employee-friendly than the federal tip credit law, and therefore the state law is applicable even if the Senate bill is passed. Click here for a chart describing the state requirements. Click here for a Department of Labor “Fact Sheet” pertaining to tipped employees.
How Would the Senate Bill Impact California Employers and Employees?
Currently in California, employers must pay tipped employees the full state minimum wage of $6.75 per hour, and cannot offset any of this amount by the employee’s tips. If the bill passes, employees will still be guaranteed to earn at least the state minimum wage. The only difference is that the tips earned by employees could then counted towards the $6.75 per hour minimum wage amount. For example, if the bill passes, California employers could pay tipped employees $2.13 per hour so long as the employee earned at least another $4.62 per hour in tips ($2.13 + $4.62= $6.75). If the tipped employee does not earn enough tips to reach the $6.75 minimum wage threshold, then the employer will have to pay the difference to guarantee that the employee makes at least $6.75 per hour.
“Controversy” Surrounding the Tip Credit Provision
Some politicians, mostly Democrats, oppose the tip credit language in the bill because they argue it constitutes a wage reduction for tipped employees in the seven states that do not have a tip credit. However, the rationale for the minimum wage was to set the minimum that workers earn in the United States, and tipped employees are not minimum wage earners. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report that “Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations” nationally earn on average $8.55 per hour as of May 2005, as reported here.
In California, these same employees earn on average $9.17 per hour as of May 2005, as reported here. On both the national level and in California, tipped employees who work in restaurants are paid well above the applicable minimum wage. Moreover, tipped employee’s “wages” increase each year when restaurants raise their menu prices because tips left are based on a percentage of the total bill, unlike minimum wage earners who do not receive tips.
Furthermore, employers must pay payroll taxes including FICA (social security tax), SUTA (state unemployment taxes) and FUTA (federal unemployment taxes) on employee tips. Since employers must contribute their share of payroll taxes on these amounts, they should get credit for having paid these amounts towards an employee’s minimum wage. This was the rationale for having a tip credit in the 43 states that recognize a tip credit.
Having a tip credit in California could also help equalize the disparity in wages often seen between the tipped employees and the “back of the house” employees. For example, cooks are often paid much less per hour than servers, and, ironically, are prohibited by California law from participating in tip pools (tip pools are different than the topic of tip credits - click here and here for prior posts on tip pools under California law). So unlike servers, they do not have the benefit of receiving additional income from patrons. If permitted to apply a tip credit to a server’s minimum wage, a restaurant owner would have more resources he or she could redistribute to other staff members who are currently prohibited from participating in tip pools under California state law.
It is uncertain whether this bill will pass the Senate, but whether it does or not, the issue of a tip credit for employers in California will be hotly debated for some time to come.
UPDATE: The Senate failed to pass the minimum wage increase bill on Thursday, August 3, 2006. Click here for article.
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