Restaurant waiters and waitresses in Michigan are reportedly concerned about a possible cut in tips due to a recent state Supreme Court ruling.
Tami Jo Schultz has worked numerous jobs as a waitress for many years and is now employed at the Hoff Bar and Grill in Free Soil, MLive.com reported Thursday.
However, she told the outlet she is concerned that she and about 125,000 other tipped workers may experience a large cut in the tips they earn due to a transition regarding tipped minimum wage workers:
“I can’t see me going from $25-plus an hour to – if we’re all getting paid minimum wage, what is the reason for tipping?” Schultz said. “Obviously to show appreciation, but I don’t think it’s going to be as large as a tip.
“My tip averages 25%, sometimes more. But I think once everyone learns that we’re all on minimum wage, I don’t think they’ll tip the 20% anymore. I think it’ll be more like 5%, maybe 10%, if that.”
The increase in the minimum wage will “gradually phase out the tipped minimum wage by 2029,” the MLive.com report noted.
According to a MoneyWise report from Tuesday, the minimum wage in Michigan is set to rise to approximately $12.50 an hour in 2025 and gradually increase to $15.00 per hour in the next few years due to the court’s ruling.
The outlet continued:Justin Winslow, president and CEO of the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association, says the Supreme Court ruling could force more than 1-in-5 full-service restaurants in the state to close permanently, costing up to 60,000 jobs.
“Today’s tone-deaf ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court strikes a likely existential blow to Michigan’s restaurant industry and the nearly 500,000 workers it employs,” Winslow said in a statement.
Former President Donald Trump said in June that if he is elected president in November, his administration will eliminate taxes on tips, Breitbart News reported.
“So, this is the first time I’ve said this. And, for those hotel workers and people that get tips, you’re going to be very happy. Because when I get to office, we are going to not charge taxes on tips — people making tips,” he said during a rally in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Trump later left a $500 tip at a restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, writing “Vote Trump, No Tax on Tip” on the check at the establishment called Tony and Nick’s Steaks, per Breitbart News.
Video footage shows Trump writing the note as people gathered around him:
VOTE TRUMP—NO TAX ON TIPS!!! pic.twitter.com/IeddHfp9Vm
— Margo Martin (@margommartin) June 22, 2024
“The promise from the former president to not tax tips has started a trend of people writing, ‘A vote 4 Trump is a vote 4 no tax on tips,’ or similarly worded sayings on their receipts from restaurants and other places where people earn tips,” the report said.
