The Tip of the Iceberg - The Past, Present, and Future of Tipping Regulations in the United States
Southern University Law Review Volume 50 Issue 2
26 Pages Posted: 17 Feb 2023 Last revised: 17 Apr 2023
Date Written: April 13, 2023
Abstract
The act of gratuities and tipping is one with which every American is familiar, as are the multitude of frustrations associated with it. However, there is no group suffering more from this system than the very workers who rely on them.
The Fair Labor Standards Act was amended in 1966 to establish a permanent sub-minimum wage for tipped workers. This was done under the assumption that the tips they earned on the job would, when added to the sub-minimum wage, ensure that the workers’ earnings equaled or exceeded the standard minimum wage. Today, federal regulation requires an employer pay tipped employees a wage of $2.13 per hour, while the standard minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour.
The conversations around tips and tipping are changing — so much so that organizations are now dedicated to the elimination of the federal regulations regarding tips, advocating instead for employers to pay the full minimum wage plus fair, non-discriminatory tips.
This comment focuses on federal regulations surrounding the minimum-wage system for tipped workers and provides a legislative history of the often-forgotten attempts to ban tipping in the United States. The author traces tipping in America from its turbulent history to its turbulent present, illustrates the injustices wrought by the current tipped minimum-wage scheme, and argues for its repeal.
Keywords: Sub-Minimum Wage, Tipping, Anti-Tipping Legislation, Service Workers, Wage Theft, Fair Labor Standards Act, Tipped Workers
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