t’s been a fierce D.C. debate for years: How much should the tipped minimum wage be?
It’s typically lower, with workers expected to make up the rest in tips. The business covers the difference if they don’t.
Under Initiative 82, the tipped minimum wage has now gone up from $5.35 an hour to $10 an hour. It was supposed to keep going up every year until 2027, when it would be the same as the regular D.C. minimum wage, but Mayor Muriel Bowser says she believes that’s no longer feasible for employers because of tough economic times.
“It would be negligent for us to act like we’re in the same place we were three years ago,” Bowser said.
She is now calling for a repeal of Initiative 82.
It passed in 2022 with about three-quarters of D.C. voters saying “yes” to the higher tipped minimum wage.
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Aimee Cho over at NBC 4 Washington
