A union-backed group aiming to kill New York’s tip credit has set up a legal-advice hotline for servers who believe they’ve been sexually harassed, had their wages stolen or otherwise been abused by co-workers or guests.
The group, One Fair Wage, maintains that those problems are stoked by the tipping model, since customers can withhold gratuities, a big part of waitstaffers’ income, at will. They argue that servers can’t afford to alienate a customer acting inappropriately and are open to retribution if they complain about a boss or co-worker.
One Fair Wage has argued that requiring restaurants to directly pay servers the full minimum wage will lessen the waitstaff’s dependence on tips and maintaining favor with guests.
It says the hotline is necessary now that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused to support legislation that would disallow the state’s tip credit.
“She has refused to act—and so we are taking action ourselves,” Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage, said in a statement.
The setup will also enable One Fair Wage to collect the sort of upsetting stories it’s used in the past to paint the tip credit as a horror for servers and bartenders. In those accounts, the workers suffered ill treatment rather than taking a cut in their tips.
The number is 646-470-9113.
Under New York law, servers, bartenders and other tipped employees are entitled to a wage of at least $13.20 an hour in most areas of the state and minimum of $15 if they work on Long Island or in Westchester. Restaurateurs are required to pay $8.80 of the state minimum in cash or $10 of the hourly pay for workers in Long Island and Westchester if the recipient earns enough in tips to bring them up to the mandated minimum scale. If not enough gratuities are collected, the employer is required to make up the shortfall.
One Fair Wage wants employers to pay the full minimum wage, and tipped workers would be free to keep any money they collect in the form of gratuities.
The group has worked in the past on common causes with the Service Employees International Union, the nation's second largest labor organization. One Fair Wage had 2021 gross receipts of just under $17 million, according to the non-profit tracking website Guidestar.org.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a Restaurant Business member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.