Some Central New York restaurant owners and employees are lining up against a plan to make tipped workers, such as waiters, into full minimum wage employees. The New York State Restaurant Association is calling on local businesses to oppose Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposal. It would eliminate the “tip credit” that allows employers to pay a lower wage to workers who get tips.
Melissa Fleischut of the Restaurant Association says eliminating the credit would hurt workers and the industry.
"The concern from our angle is that tipped employees currently earn a good living based on their tips and their wages from their employer. And this is causing a lot of uncertainty in the industry of what would happen if this tip credit were eliminated."
Workers who earn tips are paid lower than minimum wage, but because they are tipped, they end up making more. Restaurant owner Joseph DeCuffa says this is a political move by Cuomo to get votes in an election year. He says the system they have now is working.
"Business is great right now, business is wonderful. Thank god, you know? And now of all sudden you put this stranglehold on you and it’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt the owner, it’s going to hurt the employee. And it’s going to hurt the customer."
Restaurants and other business say having to pay higher wages will cause them to cut jobs. Fleischut says another concern is that this would cause a labor shortage. Linda Vollmer is a server at Joey’s Restaurant in East Syracuse.
"If Joey’s going to cut the floor to have less people on, I’m not going to give those people special service and maybe a lot of us might not work still work here. If people are not going to tip anymore, I’m not going to work for minimum wage when I’ve done this for 20 years. And it’s a lot of work, it’s more than what people think."
The governor proposed the change in his state of the state address in January, continuing a push to raise all minimum wages. Fleischut says the state department of labor will hold hearings on the idea across the state, starting with Syracuse next month. She says it’s unclear whether the proposal will go to the state legislature, but she is concerned that it could be implemented with an executive order.
