Portland wage boost to aid tipped workers
When the Portland City Council approved an increase in the city’s minimum wage on Monday, it didn’t realize it would also raise the minimum wage for tipped workers.
The Portland Press Herald reported that Mayor Michael Brennan, a leading advocate of increasing the city’s minimum wage, didn’t appear to realize that such an action would have an impact on the city’s tipped workers. Because of a state law, the minimum wage for tipped workers in Portland will go from $3.75 an hour to $6.35 at the beginning of next year.
Julie Rabinowtiz, a spokeswoman for the Maine Department of Labor, told the newspaper that the city could fix the issue by creating a separate minimum wage for tipped workers, but warned that doing so could raise issues of fairness between tipped workers and everyone else.
The Retail Association of Maine said on its Facebook page that it’s not sure why Brennan appeared to be confused about the impact of the minimum wage increase on tipped workers.
“Multiple restaurant owners and the Maine Restaurant Association pointed that out in testimony that evening and at the many previous hearings,” it said of Monday’s city council meeting.
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