Tipping is a typical American custom. In the US, consumers tip for services ranging from airport baggage handlers to hotel housekeepers.
But according to some analysts, tipping has created an environment where restaurant servers are exposed to sexual harassment and low pay. The pandemic has only exacerbated those problems.
About three-quarters of tipped workers in the restaurant industry are women and nearly half are people of color.
In a survey by One Fair Wage and UC Berkeley’s Food Labor Research Center, 83% of restaurant employees reported that their tips had decreased during the Covid pandemic and more than 40% experienced a change in the frequency of unwanted sexual comments from customers.
With the pandemic leaving millions to do essential work for low wages, there are renewed calls for a $ 15 minimum wage and the abolition of the so-called tip minimum wage – the base salary for many restaurant workers.
Forty-three states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Texas, have reduced minimum wages for workers, in some cases as low as $ 2.13 an hour.
Still, many in the restaurant industry are against the proposed changes as they would result in higher menu prices and fewer hours for employees. According to the National Restaurant Association, the pandemic has already taken a devastating toll on the industry, wiping out 2.5 million restaurant jobs and more than 110,000 food and beverage outlets in 2020 alone.
Watch the video above to find out what the $ 15 minimum wage and the abolition of the tipped minimum wage would mean for restaurants and their employees.
View more:
Why American hospitals are closing
What airlines do to clean their planes