The first raise will be a modest 23-cent hourly increase on January 1st for non-tipped workers. The first bump for people who make tips comes out to an extra eight cents an hour.
Less than two months later, however, the minimum wage is scheduled to go up again. This time by around two dollars for both tipped and non-tipped workers.
But that wage hike for tipped workers isn’t set in stone.
Restaurant industry groups have been pushing lawmakers to restore the credit that allows businesses to pay their tipped workers less than the regular hourly minimum wage as long as tips make up the difference.
The state legislature failed to take up those proposals this year, pushing the issue to next year’s plate.
Incoming House Republican leadership has listed tipped wages as a top priority.
