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State Rep. Camille Lilly, D-Chicago, has introduced House Bill
5139, which would allow servers and bartenders to receive the
state’s minimum wage starting in 2025 in addition to their tips.
“This is the beginning of addressing poverty for each and every
worker across the state of Illinois,” Lilly said at a press
conference introducing the bill earlier this month.
The current minimum wage in Illinois is $12 an hour, but for
servers and bartenders who receive tips, it's $7.20 an hour.
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said
there are already safeguards in place for service workers.
“Tipped employees, if they don’t make the full minimum wage
through their wages and tips, the employer is legally required
to make up the difference or face serious penalties,” Toai said.
In 2019, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation into law that
increases the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour and $9 for
tipped workers by 2025.
Toia praised the law for maintaining the credit that allows
employers to pay tipped workers 60% of the minimum wage if tips
make up the other 40%.
If the bill becomes law, the additional costs will no doubt be
passed onto customers, Toai said, and a recent survey shows
restaurants are still facing difficult times.
“Ninety-two percent say business conditions are worse now than
they were three months ago, and 88% of the operators say their
customer traffic in 2021 was lower than it was in 2019,” Toia
said.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 90,000
workers have left the hospitality industry in Illinois since
2020.
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