It’s still too low in actual terms. But, tipped restaurant workers in New York will get a bump.
Acting state Labor Commissioner Mario Musolino accepted a state wage board’s recommendation to raise the cash wage for tipped workers to $7.50 per hour beginning Dec. 31, marking tipped workers’ first minimum wage raise since 2011.
Musolino accepted four of the five recommendations made by the wage board. He said he is in favor of putting all tipped workers under one class, allowing New York City to raise its minimum for tipped workers by one dollar if and when the Legislature approves a separate minimum wage for the metropolis, and reviewing whether to eliminate the cash wages and tip credits system. He rejected a recommendation that the tip allowance be increased by $1.00 per hour when the weekly average of cash wages and tips equals or exceeds the applicable hourly minimum wage rate by 150 percent in New York City and 120 percent in the rest of New York.
