Hospitality Wage Growth Reignites Tipped Minimum Wage Battle

The lingering effects of the pandemic continue to drive up wages in the restaurant industry, giving new energy to state and local efforts to abolish the lower tipped minimum wage.

Pandemic-related health risks, scheduling unpredictability, and the harassment public-facing workers faced during the pandemic made the industry less attractive, which is why restaurant employers are still struggling to find workers even as wages continue to rise, economists and worker advocates say.

Federal law allows businesses to pay their workers as little as $2.13 an hour if they earn more than $30 a month in tips. But the share of hourly ...