BILL WOULD CAP MINIMUM WAGE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES

East County News Service

March 15, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) --Here’s a tip:  If you’re a waiter or waitress who earns a lot from tips, you might be left out of the upcoming minimum wage increase – if a bill backed by the California Restaurant Association wins approval in the state Legislature.

Next year, California’s minimum wage will rise to $10 an hour.  But Assembly Bill 669, authored by Assemblyman Tom Daly, restaurant employees who earn $15 or more when tips are added to their base income will have their wages capped at $9 an hour.

The bill is opposed by the United Food and Commercial Workers. The union’s executive director James Araby says the measure would “undermine the spirit of raising the minimum wage.”