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Protect Tips

in Ohio.

In 2024, outside special interest groups are attempting to eliminate the tipped wage that is so important to servers, Ohio's restaurant and hospitality industry, our customers and Ohio communities.

Eliminating the tipped wage would be especially harmful to small and independent Ohio restaurants and those who serve in these communities.

$27 PER HOUR

Tipping provides higher wages for restaurant workers, as the national average is $27 per hour.

Explore the Policy Brief

93% AGAINST AMENDMENT

Ohio owners and operators are overwhelming against eliminating the tipped wage.

See ORA Impact Poll Results

MENU PRICES RISING

After D.C.'s elimination of the tipped wage, 80% of restaurants plan to raise prices.

Read Page 19 of Case Study

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The Case for

the Tip Credit

The tipping system provides substantial earning opportunities for workers across many industries, especially restaurant servers and bartenders – well beyond the current minimum wage, and even beyond the proposed $15 minimum wage.

Some Cleveland restaurant workers question push for a $15-an-hour minimum wage for tipped employees

“We already are working on such thin margins that a hit like this would be just devastating to the industry and I think we’ll see a ton of closures because of it.”

“I think what you’re going to see is business owners would react to this by either cutting benefits insurance, cutting actual people, or raising prices to the consumer.”

"It would actually be a huge pay cut, with customers less likely to tip (...) I feel like we’re seeing a lot of resistance to tipping already.”

Read the Full Article from WKYC Studios

Chicago: I’m a tipped server. Mayor Johnson’s restaurant minimum wage plan could ruin my livelihood.

"Typically, I bring home two to three times the city’s required minimum wage on an hourly basis. I’m not an outlier: A recent Sun-Times article reported survey results of Chicago restaurant workers. The survey found workers earn an average hourly wage of $28.48 an hour."

"I’m upset that this legislation is moving quickly without input from tipped workers like me. The council is under the false impression that I am abused and mistreated in my restaurant. In fact, I am empowered, and it’s my tips and the tipping system that empower me.

Read the Full Article from the Chicago Sun Times

92% of Americans Support Tipping at

Sit-Down Restaurants

A new study from the Pew Research Center discovered that 72% of people said the long-standing practice of tipping is now expected in more places than five years ago, which appears to be sowing some confusion among Americans.

“Even as Americans say they’re being asked to tip more often, relatively few have a great deal of confidence about when and how to do so,” the authors wrote.

About a third say it’s extremely or very easy to know whether or how much to tip for different types of services.

21% say tipping is more of a choice, while 29% say it’s more of an obligation.

So, where are Americans tipping? The situations when people add a gratuity offer insight into the new tipping landscape.

Dining at sit-down restaurants (92%). Of note: A majority said they would tip 15% or less for an average sit-down meal.
Getting a haircut (78%)
Having food delivered (76%)
Using a taxi or rideshare service (61%)
Buying coffee (25%)
Eating at fast-casual restaurants (12%)

Read the Article from Pew Research Center

Minimum Wage News Around Ohio

Outside Special Interest Groups

Eyeing 2024 to Eliminate the Tipped Wage in Ohio

Is phasing in raising the minimum wage to $11 an hour good for the Restaurant Industry?

Senate Bill 146 would raise Ohio state minimum wage to $15 hour in a few years

Read the ORA's

Memo to Members

Read Oct. 10, 2023 Memo to Members

Save the Tip Credit

Explore the National Restaurant Association Policy Agenda and why it's imperative for restaurants to maintain the tipped wage.

Learn More Here

Efforts to Eliminate Tip Credit on Rise Across the Country

Chicago Eliminates the Tip Credit

“Restaurant operators, tipped servers, and local dining scenes will suffer any time the tip credit is eliminated. We are already seeing this play out in Washington, D.C., and Chicago restaurant owners and diners should prepare for similar challenges. Tipping works for owners, servers, and customers, and the National Restaurant Association remains committed to preserving the tip credit system in every community."

- Sean Kennedy, National Restaurant Association Executive VP for Public Affairs

Read the National Restaurant Association Statement

Tipping Fight Brings Tough Choices

Chicago restaurateur T.J. Callahan ran an experiment in April when he opened his newest restaurant in a neighboring suburb: In place of tipping, he added a 20% service charge to all checks to boost employees’ hourly pay. It didn’t go well — Servers’ overall pay declined and sales fell. Some diners blasted the move as “socialist.” He switched back to relying on customers to tip his servers after five months. Read the Wall Street Journal Article

Labor Advocates Turn Focus to Boston & New York City to Dissolve the Tip Credit

California: Restaurant Industry & Union Compromise on Controversial Bill

D.C. restaurants reel from a triple dose of woes after Tipped Wage eliminated

Lawmakers Should Learn from D.C.'s Harmful Tipping Experiment

The Unintended Consequences of Removing Tipped Minimum Wage in Montgomery Count y

Tabled: Tipped Wage in Prince George's County

Prince George’s County Council in Maryland tables move that would have raised tipped minimum wage, pressured operator's thin profit margins and lowered server's income

Read the article out of Maryland

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updates from the ORA?

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Updated Nov. 21 2023