Wage hike eyed for tipped food-service workers

Erik Engquist

Low-wage workers who believe they were left behind in the 2013 deal to raise the state's minimum wage might finally be getting some relief from the Cuomo administration, Crain's has learned.

The governor's office will move "in the near future" to convene a minimum-wage board to study what raise should be given to tipped workers, an administration source said.

The governor has been under intermittent pressure from advocacy organizations who support raising the minimum wage to close what they view as a loophole in the 2013 legislation. That law raised the minimum wage to $8 this year, $8.75 next year and $9 in 2016, but did not increase the $5-an-hour minimum base pay for food-service workers who also receive tips. Only if these workers' tips do not bring them up to the standard minimum wage do their employers have to make up the difference.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140613/BLOGS04/140619925/wage-hike-eyed-for-tipped-food-service-workers