Should the minimum wage be increased for tipped workers? – NBC Boston

Massachusetts voters will soon decide whether to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers.

Question 5 was met with both support and opposition from many in the restaurant industry.

The minimum wage for tipped workers in Massachusetts is $6.75 per hour, provided that tips earn them at least $15 per hour. If tips don’t make up the difference, employers are obligated to do so.

The ballot measure aims to eliminate the overturned minimum wage by gradually increasing the minimum hourly wage over five years. Waitstaff would still be able to collect tips, but if an employer pays at least the federal minimum wage, they would be allowed to pool those tips and share them with employees who do not receive tips.

Should tipped workers receive a minimum wage in Massachusetts? It’s on the ballot for the 2024 election, and we dug into the issue to see what supporters and opponents of Ballot Question 5 are. Follow NBC10 Boston:

The Circus Cooperative Café in Cambridge operates on a similar model. Worker-owner candidate Myles Taylor supports Question 5 because he says it makes wages more predictable and could help equalize wages between customer-facing employees and those in the kitchen.

“Many people in the Secretariat are our most vulnerable citizens right now. “It’s people who don’t know English so well that they don’t know enough to work in server positions,” Taylor said. “Making sure they have better pay is really, really important to me because I’ve seen this inequality time and time again everywhere I’ve worked.”

The option to pool tips drew backlash from some servers and bartenders, like Tracey Motta at Maguire’s Bar and Grill in Easton.

Motta also assumes that customers will tip less and that this will amount to a pay cut.

“The minimum wage is $15 multiplied by, let’s say, 40 hours, that’s $600,” Motta said. “I do a lot more than that.”

Maguire’s owner Neil Levine estimates his annual operating costs for payroll would increase by $189,000 per year.

“I could take a loss of $189,000. I could lay off staff. I could raise my prices,” he listed. “If Question 5 is adopted, we will have to make difficult decisions.”

Estefania Galvis is part of the One Fair Wage campaign, which advocates for similar ballot initiatives across the country. She argues that by paying higher wages, companies could see a decline in sales in the long term.

“This will really help our economy thrive and our workers stay in their jobs longer and stay out of poverty,” Galvis said.

If approved, Question 5 would require employers to cover the full minimum wage for tipped employees and allow them to pool tips. Otherwise, the current system, where tips cover part of the minimum wage, would remain in place.

Click here for more information on all five questions on the ballot in Massachusetts.