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Fresh off a victory at Chicago’s City Hall, proponents of eliminating the sub-minimum wage for tipped workers have their eyes set on Springfield. A bill set to be introduced in the General Assembly next week by state Rep. Elisabeth Hernandez, D-Cicero, and supported by the One Fair Wage group, would go a step further and eliminate the tipped wage statewide by Jan. 1, 2025, effectively forcing restaurants across Illinois to pay their workers a higher minimum hourly rate than Chicago restaurants by next year.
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Summary and audio linked here.
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Audio and summary
In high school I worked as a busboy. My wage was about $2/hour plus tips. I worked Friday and Saturday nights and we were always busy, with tips the pay was good. If you told me I was getting switched to minimum wage I would say that’s fine move me to the lunch shift or I’m gone. Why should the person who sits around on the lunch shift get the same pay as someone that busts their ass on a Friday or Saturday night. It’s going to be tough for restaurants to figure this one out if it passes.
ACCELERATE!!!
Maybe it’s time for those who still dine out in IL adopt the European standard of tipping, zero.
If this bill passes, restaurants will need to raise prices to cover the higher cost of labor. If that happens, many may have to lower their tip percentage to offset the higher base cost of food. This happened in several major liberal cities, and the restaurant employees don’t like seeing the tips drop substantially. But what else is a customer to do? Caveat emptor.
We would all do well to remember that tipping is discretionary, not mandatory. Also, tip only on the food/ drink, not the additional 8.75% tax on the bill. If my bill isn’t itemized, I inform the server that my estimate is probably going to be less than 15% . Not very good with math, thanks public schools! Just kidding.