According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck would like to eliminate the minimum wage for waiters. In a story on resolutions for 2009, Puck was asked, “What problem should your industry or professional community tackle more effectively?” Puck responded:
The industry should lobby to establish a federal law that allows restaurants nationwide to exempt waiters who earn tips from the minimum wage. Waiters would not lose money because they could work overtime, and we could use the savings to provide health care or raise the wages of dishwashers.
Currently, tipped employees must be paid a minimum wage of $2.63 per hour in cash wages and with tips must earn at least $6.55 per hour. State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed.
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