The $15 question

What’s more American than tipping? It’s standard to leave an extra few dollars for a cup of coffee, a haircut, an Uber ride, or the waiters who jot down dinner orders. Twenty percent is expected; anything below is taken as a not-so-stellar review of the service.

But an upcoming ballot question could add a modern twist to the system. In November, Massachusetts voters will decide whether the minimum wage for tipped employees will remain at $6.75 an hour or be bumped up to the base pay for all other workers: $15 (plus tips). It would happen slowly over five years, with the first increase lifting the floor to $9.60 an hour.

If it passes, the measure would also allow restaurants to pool tips with back-of-house staff, who are otherwise usually paid a flat hourly rate above $15.

Question 5 could transform the paychecks of thousands of workers and the bottom line of Bay State restaurants, from the mom-and-pop seafood shack on Cape Cod to the Applebee’s along I-93.

The Globe asked almost 50 people — servers, hosts, bartenders, cooks, restaurateurs, attorneys, and advocates — whether a $15 tipped minimum wage is right for Massachusetts, its food scene, and its workforce. These are their answers.

“This will be worse for our workers. I don’t want to see job losses in this industry that I grew up in and that I love.”

- Ryan Lotz

President of Mass Restaurants United and beverage director at Shore Leave in Boston

“It is shameful that we still have a subminimum wage for tipped workers, even if Massachusetts law says that the restaurants make up the difference if they don’t reach $15 an hour. This practice comes out of slavery. After emancipation, restaurants hired Black workers to live off tips.”

- Shannon Liss-Riordan

Labor attorney

“A lot of the restaurants and bars who have come up in a newer wave of hospitality have already been paying close to $15 as their base wage. Can that be implemented everywhere? I'm not sure yet.”

- Emily Quinlan

Former bartender at Bone Up Brewing Company in Everett

Some restaurant workers believe paying a $15 minimum wage should be a given. More and more customers are put off by tipping or are already leaving less on the table in our roller-coaster economy. A higher hourly rate may create stability for employees, especially those working at cheaper and less-trafficked establishments outside of cities. And some say it would make it easier to restaurants to open for longer hours.

“The owners want to be open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And the only way we’re going to get enough people to do that is if you pay really well. $13.50 or $15 alone, without tips — I would never serve a table for that.”

- Sam Koufman

General manager of The Cut in Gloucester, which implemented a $13.50 minimum wage for tipped employees this summer

“Right now, you’re starting in a hole and hoping tips will bail you out. The first nine dollars of tips you get for each hour is just putting you at minimum wage. You’re losing, but it doesn’t feel like you are if you make $400 in one night. You forget about all the other days when you finish with almost nothing.”

- Liam Larson

Host at a Marlborough restaurant

“If restaurants cannot afford to pay employees minimum wage, they shouldn’t be in business. Chain restaurants that have servers are being bought by private equity and venture capital firms who are profiting off our labor, but delegating the responsibility of their earnings to the public.”

- Danny Macomber

Part-time Dunkin’ employee in Norfolk

Not all restaurants say they can make the math work. Places that implemented higher tipped wages — Seattle and Washington, D.C., for example — have not seen their dining landscape implode, but are watching labor costs rise. The “No” camp in Massachusetts found that businesses could pay an additional $18,000 in payroll per employee at the $15 rate, if the measure is enacted. In Maine, a bipartisan coalition in the Legislature restored the state’s tip credit, just one year it was eliminated in a similar ballot measure.

“Restaurant owners will have to pay more in hourly wages to [front-of-house] employees, which tends to result in menu price increases. Needless to say, this inflation turns off many guests, who may decide to eat out less often. Decreased revenue leads to more restaurant closures. Quality of service may also decline as operators try to save money by decreasing the number of staff on the floor.”

- David Doyle

Owner of Tres Gatos and Casa Verde in Boston

“My labor cost is the highest thing in the restaurant that I cannot really control, and I cannot put prices up too much and expect to keep customers around. If it’s a yes on this question, I might just sell the place and buy a smaller restaurant. It’s like the Titanic. It’s too big.”

- Mark Firth

Owner of Prairie Whale in Great Barrington

“

We would love to continue to grow and do business and hire tons of people in Massachusetts. But these additional barriers make you question if there is a real opportunity here.”

- Shore Gregory

Managing partner at Row 34 in Greater Boston and Portsmouth, N.H.

Those concerns could be overblown. Even though the tipped minimum is $6.75, the average tipped employee in the state earns around $11 an hour as a base, according to new research out of University of Massachusetts Amherst. And pay issues among workers — many of whom are women, people of color, or immigrants — still run rampant.

In 2023, restaurant employees lodged 941 workplace complaints with the state, the most of any industry. Three-fourths of them had to do with wage theft, meaning workers were either underpaid or not paid out properly for tips. Should Question 5 pass, there is scant evidence that employees will earn less, or that the burden on restaurants will increase as dramatically as they say, the UMass Amherst research shows.

“

Restaurants have a long history of adapting — to COVID, to inflation, to new technology. Often, we have to do it reactively. In this case, restaurants will have the advantage of knowing exactly how expenses will change. With thorough forecasting and budgeting, businesses can make proactive changes over the five year wage increase period.”

- Irene Shiang Li

Cofounder of Mei Mei Dumplings and the restaurant consulting firm, Prepshift

But employees are still wary. Nine in 10 servers and bartenders fear that raising the $6.75 tipped minimum wage will push customers to tip less, according to a survey from the Massachusetts Restaurant Association, a trade group that opposes the measure. Others say it’ll botch the quality of service. Many are reluctant, too, to share earnings with the back-of-house employees, who are often paid $20 an hour or more.

The question would not require tips be shared with all employees equally, but would allow workers who do not interact with customers directly to reap the benefits of tips.

“I make more than three times the minimum wage on average. I work 28 hours a week. I’m a single parent. I bought a home by myself. I raised a child by myself as a bartender. To take a pay cut to make other people feel better is not what I want. This would mean I have to work, like, 90 hours a week to make things work.”

- Gretchen ShelgrenBartender at Mamma Mia’s in Plymouth

“The tipping culture in general has gotten more complicated. People are more weary about tipping servers because they’re being asked to tip basically anywhere they go. This only makes things worse.”

- Dave MichienziFormer server and host in the Merrimack Valley

“We get tipped on personality and the vibe and the experience. I don’t feel like I want to share my tips with people who come in and vacuum at night. I’m sure they’re getting paid a great amount of money for what they’re doing.”

- Kelsey MacKinnonBartender at Stanza de Cigari and La Padrona in Boston

“At $15 an hour and less tips, no one is going to go above and beyond for the people at the table.”

- Kayla ManziOwner of the Majestic Saloon in Northampton

“The level of service you see now from places will go down because you will only be getting the bare minimum from people. You’ll only see entry-level servers. You’ll always get the college kids — somebody who does not know wine, or understand allergies, or doesn’t care how long your food’s taking, because you’re not going to tip them a lot anyway.”

- Lisa Smith

Bartender at a Sunderland bar

Now with less than a month until Election Day, the two warring sides have spent more than a million dollars on Question 5. Supporters insist that the increased pay rate — and the ability to pool tips with back-of-house workers — would help people on the ground, especially servers who scarcely earn good tips, low-wage line cooks, and workers with less experience. Or, as opponents say, it could change tipping forever.

“Kitchens can be really hard on your body. It’s laborious. Getting a good tip is such an adrenaline rush — a nice high to keep you going. Pooling tips with the back-of-house would be spectacular.”

- Aidan HayesLine cook at Beachcomber in Wellfleet

“Restaurant employees who make $50 an hour are a minority. It’s a very low percentage of people who will get that. To serve promptly, you need someone to work in the back to make sure the food tastes good and the dishes taste right. You should be able to share. It’s a team effort.”

- Lenita ReasonExecutive director of the Brazilian Workers Center in Allston

“Why would $15 matter in Massachusetts? This feels rushed and forced. Where will restaurants find the extra money to give to us when they have to keep the lights on and pay the kitchen staff?”

- Dustin CookBartender at Spoleto Restaurant in Northampton

“Being paid a living wage makes servers more professional, take their jobs more seriously, and in the end, I think that benefits everyone.”

- Alexa Burakoff

Former server in Newton and San Francisco, where tipped workers do not receive subminimum wage

“

I don’t think passing this bill will eradicate the norm of tipping 18 percent to 20 percent. Maybe in the future in America, we will get to that point. Who knows? It’s like that almost everywhere else in the world.”

- Triona Murray

Former restaurant server, bartender, and host in the Merrimack Valley

Design and development by Ryan Huddle. Additional development by Daigo Fujiwara-Smith. Quality assurance by Nalini Dokula.