LANSING Mich. (WLNS) – Restaurant owners and servers are worried about a Michigan Supreme Court ruling that they say will hurt the tipping system. They spoke with lawmakers on Wednesday to tell them what they want to see happen to prevent the ruling from going into effect.
The history behind the situation goes back quite a few years. In 2018 the group One Fair Wage created a ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage to 12 dollars for everyone including servers and bartenders.
Lawmakers chose to adopt and amend the initiative and reverse the wage increase, which allowed servers to continue relying on tips for income rather than receiving the minimum wage. However, after a lawsuit, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled this unconstitutional and reinstated the original ballot initiative giving everyone a $12 minimum wage.
People like bartender Joshua Smalley say this will eliminate the tip credit, which he says is the expectation of a customer to tip.
“All of us servers and bartenders will make less money and a lot of us will end up losing our jobs,” Smalley said.