October 08, 2024 | Policy Brief
  • Headline: Raising the Minimum Wage for Massachusetts Tipped Workers
  • Intro Text:

    Massachusetts law currently allows employers to pay tipped workers a subminimum wage of $6.75/hour. PERI researcher Jeannette Wicks-Lim and Jasmine Kerrissey examine a November 2024 ballot proposal to eliminate this law by 2029. Their findings include that tipped workers are disproportionately women and people of color; tipped workers are concentrated in hotels and restaurants, where a disproportionate share of workplace violation complaints related to wage theft occur; and that the cost increases from this measure should be modest. It is therefore unlikely to reduce employment or produce large price increases.

  • Type of publication: Policy Brief
  • Research or In The Media: Research
  • Research Area: Labor Markets, Wages & Poverty
  • Publication Date: 2024-10-08
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  • Authors:
    • Add Authors: Jeannette Wicks-Lim
    • Add Authors: Jasmine Kerrissey
  • Show in Front Page Modules: Yes
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Currently, Massachusetts’ law allows employers to pay tipped workers a subminimum wage of $6.75 per hour, and tips from customers are supposed to bring the worker up to the state’s full minimum wage of $15.00. If tips fall short, workers often carry the burden of asking their employer to make up the gap; this feature makes tipped workers particu­larly vulnerable to being under-paid, a form of wage-theft. The state’s November 2024 ballot includes a proposal to eliminate this subminimum wage by 2029. In this brief, we describe the Massachusetts workers who will be directly affected by this proposal and consider the existing evidence on how this policy change could impact job quality, employment, business costs, and prices. We find that: (1) tipped workers are disproportionately women and people of color; (2) tipped workers are concentrated in the hotel and restaurant industry, sectors that have incurred a disproportionate share of workplace violation complaints related to wage theft; (3) tipped workers typically earn more in states with no subminimum wages, and (4) the business cost increases from this measure can be expected to be modest. It is therefore unlikely to reduce employment or produce large price increases.

PRESS

>> The Boston Globe: "Massachusetts ballot questions 2024: Question 5 on the tipped minimum wage"

>> The Boston Globe: "The $15 Question"

>> Interview on WHMP

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