🍽️ 88% of NJ restaurant workers oppose ending tipped wages
💵 Most say they earn $20-$40+/hr through current tipping system
⚠️ Workers, owners warn proposed bill could slash income, hurt diners
TRENTON – A proposal to phase out the tipped wage system for restaurant and hospitality staff in New Jersey continues to be immensely unpopular among restaurant workers.
Those are the findings of a survey released on Thursday by the New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association.
In June and July, 394 tipped employees who work at full-service restaurants statewide took part in an online survey. Results are as follows:
🍽️ 88% prefer the current system over a flat wage model
🍽️ 79% say the tipping system works well and should not be changed
🍽️ 83% report earning $20-$40+ per hour with tips and base wage combined
🍽️ 82% believe eliminating the tip credit would reduce their earnings
Read More: NJ restaurants rip plan for tipped workers at hearing
NJ survey on keeping tipped wages (MaximFesenko/Getty Stock)
NJ survey on keeping tipped wages (MaximFesenko/Getty Stock)Bartenders say tips keep them afloat and in school
Melissa Gourley has worked in the service industry for more than 15 years and said she is paying her way through nursing school by bartending, after a previous job in the healthcare field just did not pay enough.
“I make nearly twice as much bartending as I did working in the ER,” Gourley said during a Thursday morning remote news conference. “The only reason I can pay for nursing school and work toward becoming an RN is because the tip wage system allows me to earn well above minimum wage.”
It was a similar emotion from Richie Narvaez, who bartends at Tavern on the Lake in Highstown, and also spoke during the press conference.
“I started in this industry when I was 13 years old. I was a chef for 15 years, I owned a food truck for two years and I’ve been bartending at Tavern for 10 now. I know the industry inside and out,” Narvaez said.
He described the pride he feels in a generous tip, after helping a patron have a positive experience at the bar and restaurant where he works.
Inside the controversial bill that’s causing uproar
The measure, A5433, was introduced in March by Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, D-Mercer.
It was sent in April to an Assembly committee.
New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association President and CEO Daniel Klim says the measure is rooted in the misconception that tipped staff do not already earn minimum wage.
“If they’re making $5.62 an hour and they don’t make enough in tips to make the state mandated $15.49, the employer is obligated by law to make that up,” Klim said previously in an interview with New Jersey 101.5.
Employers that don’t pay the difference face hefty fines.
Read More: NJ restaurants say proposed wage bill would devastate businesses
NJ survey on tipped wages
NJ survey on tipped wages (BrianAJackson/Getty Stock)NJ restaurants point to Washington, D.C., as cautionary tale
These new survey results, along with the strong response to the public hearing back in the spring, clearly show how restaurant workers feel, Klim said on Thursday.
He said they also run parallel to the reality of service workers in places where tipped wages have already been phased out, including in Washington, D.C.
“In Washington, D.C., restaurants were forced to cut shifts, reduce staff and replace tipping with mandatory service charges just to keep their doors open. Tips dropped. Servers started earning less – not more. Dozens of long-time restaurants shut down, and the warm, personalized dining experience diners love, was replaced with a colder, transactional model,” Klim said.
NJ survey on tipped wages
NJ survey on tipped wages (jacoblund/Getty Stock)Restaurateurs warn of fallout: Fewer tips, lost jobs, closed doors
Craig Kunisch is a fourth-generation owner and operator along with his siblings, of the Mahwah Bar and Grill and Allendale Bar and Grill.
“There is nothing about this proposal that works for our industry, our business model or our waiters, waitresses and bartenders,” Kunisch, also a former NJRHA chairman, said during the conference.
He recommended that anyone still wondering about the proposal to phase out tipped wages go to their favorite local restaurant and get some first-hand feedback.
“Engage with your servers and your bartenders — and talk this over with them and hear what they have to say. Talk to the people that are taking care of you, discuss this issue with them and see where they stand,” Kunisch said.
He said he believed the majority of responses would simply underscore these survey findings.
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