Initiative 82: Everything to Know About the DC Proposal to Increase the Minimum Wage for Tipped Workers

Photo Credit: Meriam Ahmad

MERIAM AHMAD: Initiative 82 will be on the ballot for Washington, D.C. voters this election. If passed, this measure would gradually increase the minimum wage for employees classified as “tipped workers,” such as restaurant servers, bartenders, nail salon workers and other service industry employees, to match the minimum wage established for all other employees by D.C. law. 

If this seems familiar, it’s because a similar initiative, Initiative 77, was passed by D.C. voters four years ago, but was overturned by the D.C. Council due to opposition from the hospitality industry. Below is everything you need to know about round two of the “Tip Credit Elimination Act.” 

The Details 

Currently, the minimum wage for tipped workers in D.C. is $5.35 per hour, as opposed to the non-tipped wage of $16.10 per hour. But if tipped workers still make less than the mandatory minimum wage ($16.10 per hour) after tips, employers are required to make up the difference, which is known as tip credit. 

But wait—what’s the point of trying to enact one wage for all workers, tipped and non-tipped, if employers have to make up the difference anyway? Well, for one, employees must request their remaining wage from their employers, but this regulation is difficult to enforce and is often violated. The U.S. Department of Labor found a total of 1,170 tip credit violations over a two-year period when investigating nearly 9,000 restaurants nationwide, amounting to wage theft of nearly $5.5 million. In short, the regulation does not seem to be having its desired effect in many cases.

If D.C. voters decide, once again, to do away with the tipped wage, both tipped and non-tipped workers will be making D.C. mandatory minimum wage. Any tips received will simply add to the wage of tipped workers—the initiative would not affect that process. States like California, Nevada and Minnesota already have a similar system in place. 

Support and Opposition 

The D.C. Committee to Build A Better Restaurant Industry is largely behind the push for Initiative 82. With support from the Open Society Policy Center as well as D.C. voters, the committee raised enough money and gathered enough signatures to get the initiative on the ballot. Ryan O’Leary, a tipped worker laid off during the pandemic and the proposer of Initiative 82, contends that workers “can be paid a living wage, get [their] tips on top, and allow restaurant owners to succeed.” 

Up against the initiative this November is the Vote No on 82 campaign, largely supported by the National Restaurant Association and other restaurant industry organizations. They have raised over $400,000, with most of the money having been spent on attempts to prevent Initiative 82 from getting on the ballot. The campaign argues that the initiative is “threatening to reduce pay for servers and bartenders,” saying restaurants would likely “institute a service charge and eliminate tipping.”

Saxa Strategies, a pro-bono political strategy club at Georgetown, has been working with the D.C. Committee to Build a Better Restaurant Industry to pass Initiative 82. The club supports Initiative 82 because of the “important impact that it will have lifting hard-working D.C. workers out of poverty.” 

The Future of Initiative 82 

The ballot initiative has proven to be contentious, and it will likely be a close race. However, times have changed since the D.C. Council voted to overturn Initiative 77. According to reporting by the Washington City Paper, when asked if they would vote to overturn Initiative 82 should it pass, the majority of council members said they would not, promising a more hopeful landscape for Initiative 82 for the weeks ahead.

Meriam Ahmad is a freshman in the College from San Jose, California studying Political Economy. She is a staff writer for On the Record.