Baltimore’s City Council will consider whether to raise the minimum wage employers pay tipped workers like bartenders and servers, following an unsuccessful statewide push earlier this year.
A new bill, introduced this week by Councilman John Bullock, would raise base pay for tipped workers in increments over the next five years.
Under existing law, a “tip credit” allows employers to pay $3.63 an hour — half the federal minimum wage — to workers who earn tips on the job, as long as those tips bring their pay to at least $15 an hour, the minimum wage in Maryland.
Bullock’s proposal would boost the tipped minimum in the city to $6 an hour beginning July 1, 2025. The rate would then increase by $2 a year until 2029, when the tip credit would be banned and base pay would rise to be on par with the minimum for other Maryland workers.
Advocates for raising the tipped minimum wage argue the measure will create more consistency for workers, and cut down on instances of wage theft. They also point to the history of tipping, which was used after the Civil War as a way to hire formerly enslaved people at low wages.
Those opposed to the change, including the Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM), counter that eliminating the tip credit will push restaurants to raise prices or impose service charges to account for higher payroll costs. They also argue it will be detrimental to workers, who are often able to earn more than minimum wage when tips are accounted for. In a position statement opposing the bill, RAM cited National Restaurant Association research that found tipped workers in full-service restaurants earn a median of $27 an hour with tips.
Tony Foreman, who owns Baltimore fine dining restaurants like Charleston and Petit Louis Bistro, said he didn’t yet have a position on the council bill, but urged lawmakers to recognize the complexity of the issue.
“I am sure many details are not being considered by the lawmakers,” Foreman said. “Has Mr. Bullock ever tried to operate a small restaurant business in Baltimore? Has he ever managed a tipped staff of employees? Has he spoken to his constituents who have employed these persons to understand the mechanics of compensating them?”
“I am expecting best outcomes would come from further study and thoughtfulness in how the legislation is written so that all parties will feel considered and labor laws that exist will be taken into account,” Foreman added. “I don’t think this consideration has happened yet.”
Bullock said he feels his proposal is “just the right thing to do.” With a higher tipped minimum wage, workers “are not at the whims of which way the wind is blowing in a particular day in terms of taking care of themselves and their families. Essentially, it provides more predictability.”
His bill has the backing of One Fair Wage, a national organization pushing to eliminate the tip credit across the country. The group was behind a successful effort to phase in a higher minimum wage for tipped workers in Washington, D.C., where voters backed a ballot initiative to raise the tipped minimum to $16.10 by 2027.
Similar measures have passed in other cities and states, including California, Nevada and Minnesota. The tip credit was hotly debated in Montgomery County, before a council bill to raise the tipped minimum there was withdrawn earlier this year.
In Maryland, the General Assembly took up a tip credit bill in the 2024 legislative session, but the proposal didn’t make it to the floor for a vote. A 2023 push also failed to gain momentum.
Bullock said he thinks Baltimore should lead the charge.
“We’ve been fighting for wages in Baltimore for a number of years,” he said. “Even before the state moved on the minimum wage… we tried to as a council, and it’s still something I think we should be leading in terms of both.”
The councilman said some colleagues have expressed initial support for the initiative, and “we’re hopeful that we’ll get some additional supporters, as well.”
Baltimore Sun reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this article.
