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Restaurant Jobs Take Off, Even as Pay for Servers Stalls

As states debate the minimum wage, tipped workers are going to be a big part of the conversation. That’s because there are more of them than ever, and their pay isn’t keeping up.

Restaurants rely heavily on minimum wage and tipped workers , but the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour hasn’t been raised in over 20 years. Until 1996 it had been coupled with the minimum wage, meaning that increases of the minimum wage corresponded to increases in the tipped minimum wage. The $2.13 minimum wage is supplemented by tips; if a worker doesn’t make the standard minimum wage of $7.25, the employer must make up the difference.

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