ALBANY – People who work in the bar and restaurant business will be getting a raise at the end of this year.
The state’s Acting Labor Commissioner, Mario Musolino, on Tuesday accepted a state board’s recommendation to raise the cash wage for tipped workers to $7.50 per hour beginning Dec. 31, their first minimum wage raise since 2011. The minimum wage for non-tipped workers will also rise to $9 per hour.
Musolino accepted four of the five recommendations made by the wage board, which included putting all tipped workers in one class. By classifying service workers (such as waiters and hotel maids) as one type of employee under state guidelines, New York will abolish the current three-tier wage system for those types of workers.
Current minimum tipped wages are set at $4.90, $5 and $5.65, depending on the type of service job an employee does.
While employees are obviously pleased with the news, the restaurant industry saw the move as unfriendly to business. The State Restaurant Association said it was troubling that the acting commissioner ignored legislative precedent and the pleas of nearly 1,000 hospitality industry representatives who asked him for a moderate increase phased in over time.
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