Tipped wages: How Question 5 seeks to lift minimum wage for tipped workers

Massachusetts voters will get to decide this November whether or not to increase the minimum wage for tipped workers.

The general minimum wage is $15 an hour under state law. But tipped workers get less than half of that — just $6.75 — as long as their wages plus tips total at least $15 an hour. Otherwise, employers are supposed to make up the difference.

Question 5 seeks to gradually raise the $6.75 minimum wage for tipped workers until it matches the general minimum wage. This means any tips from customers would be extra.

Here’s what to know about Question 5:

What would Question 5 do?

Question 5 proposes a law that would increase the minimum wage for tipped workers over a five-year period. (This is similar to how the general minimum wage was increased.) The tipped minimum wage would rise a little bit each year, starting Jan. 1, 2025. By Jan. 1, 2029, it would be set to equal the current general minimum wage.

What your vote means, as written by the secretary of state’s office

“A ‘yes vote’ would increase the minimum hourly wage an employer must pay a tipped worker to the full state minimum wage implemented over five years, at which point employers could pool all tips and distribute them to all non-management workers.

A ‘no vote’ would make no change in the law governing tip pooling or the minimum wage for tipped workers.[/keyfigures]

During those transitional years, employers would still be required to make up the difference between the general minimum wage and the amount a tipped worker makes in wages plus tips. Employers won’t have to do this once the hourly wage for tipped workers matches the general state minimum wage.

If an employer pays its workers the state minimum wage or more per hour, the proposed law would allow that employer to pool the tips and distribute them among all non-management workers — including non-tipped workers like back-of-the-house cooks and dishwashers.

Ballot Question 5 will ask voters if they approve of this proposed law.

Who supports Question 5?

The group behind the ballot measure is called One Fair Wage. The national advocacy organization works to raise wages for tipped workers and has pushed for similar ballot measures in other states.

The organizers say service workers have long called for a livable wage and argue they shouldn’t have to rely on tips because it puts them at an economic disadvantage. Proponents of the Massachusetts ballot initiative also assert that higher wages help restaurants retain staff.

“The federal subminimum wage has not increased in over 30 years. And here the state wage is how much? $6.75. That is not even going to get you a carton of eggs in many places,” said Jeddy Yuan of Somerville, who worked in the restaurant industry for eight years and helped collect signatures for the ballot measure. 

Yuan said customers should not have to subsidize workers wages with gratuities.

“I know firsthand how difficult it is to have to rely on tips,” Yuan said. “I remember my first week working in the industry, I actually went home with negative pay, negative money made. That is unacceptable.”

The current rules also leave workers vulnerable to wage theft, according to One Fair Wage President Sara Jayaraman.

“One of the biggest problems with this wage system is that it’s incredibly difficult for employers to enforce and for workers to know that they got their full wages — to have their rights complied with,” Jayaraman said. She added workers say employers sometimes do not comply with the law and make up the difference when tips fail to bring workers’ wages to $15 an hour.

The Massachusetts attorney general’s office assessed more than $5 million in unpaid wages and penalties in the restaurant industry in fiscal year 2024, which ended in June. According to the AG’s office, its fair labor division has received complaints about managers and supervisors taking tips, and employers failing to ensure minimum wage is earned by employees every shift.

Workers also face gender and racial disparities in tipping, Jayaraman said, adding many workers often must tolerate sexual harassment in order to get tips.

Estefania Galvis, the Massachusetts field director for One Fair Wage, said many people who signed onto the ballot measure weren’t aware that service workers earn a lower minimum wage than workers in other industries.

“They were actually really upset about that,” Galvis said.

One Fair Wage has spent more than $15,000 on its campaign as of Sept 1, according to the latest filings reported to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

Should the question pass, Massachusetts would join the seven other states that require one minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped employees: Alaska, California, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

“We want things to be fair,” Galvis said. “We want to be able to move in the right direction for the future that we deserve.”

Who opposes Question 5?

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association opposes the ballot measure. The trade organization represents 2,000 food and beverage operators across the state.

The group says the ballot measure is being pushed by “out-of-state activists” and will hurt the food and hospitality industries.

When to vote

• Registration deadline: Oct. 26
• Apply to vote by mail: Oct. 29
• Early voting: Oct. 19-Nov. 1
• Election Day: Nov. 5

“We are hearing from tipped workers that they do not want this, in droves,” said Jessica Muradian, the association’s director of governmental affairs.

Muradian cited a survey the restaurant association conducted early this year that showed 91% of respondents prefer the current system, and 88% oppose pooling tips with kitchen and other non-service staff.

“We’re here to help our servers and bartenders,” Muradian said. “And they are saying over and over again, we make a livable wage — we have raised children, we have bought houses, we have put children through college, we have bought businesses based on our wage.”

Opponents of the ballot measure also argue higher wages could tank some businesses, particularly smaller establishments with tighter margins. They warn customers would likely see menu prices rise to offset those higher payroll costs.

“Prices are going to rise for your drinks. Prices are going to rise for your burgers,” said Brian Black, a longtime bartender who works at Rock & Rye American Bar in Boston.

Black said he’s also concerned customers will tip less if the minimum wage for tipped workers increases — and that ultimately, workers may make even less money.

“The tip is an incentive,” Black said. “If you do your job well enough, the incentives get so high that you don’t worry about the rest of it.”

Black said he now averages around $28-$30 an hour in a year.

“I think this system works for a large majority of us,” he added. “For now, it’s not broke. There’s no reason to fix it.”

The Campaign to Protect Tips has spent more than $129,000 on its campaign as of Sept. 1, according to the latest filings reported to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

The restaurant association previously tried to challenge the ballot question and get it ruled ineligible by the state’s highest court, but was unsuccessful.

The restaurant group is part of the Committee to Protect Tips, the official campaign formed to oppose the ballot measure. This summer, the groups filed an objection to several signatures collected by One Fair Wage, but later withdrew it, saying they didn’t have enough time to “offer a complete review” to the state’s Ballot Law Commission.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.