FIXING COLORADO’S TIP OFFSET TO KEEP RESTAURANTS OPEN AND ALL WORKERS EARNING GREAT PAY
KEEP RESTAURANTS OPEN
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MORE FOR BACK-OF-HOUSE CREWS
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GREAT WAGES FOR ALL RESTAURANT WORKERS
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KEEP RESTAURANTS OPEN ✴ MORE FOR BACK-OF-HOUSE CREWS ✴ GREAT WAGES FOR ALL RESTAURANT WORKERS ✴
WHAT IS THE RESTAURANT RELIEF ACT?
This bill keeps Colorado restaurants open for business, helps non-tipped restaurant workers earn more, and keeps tipped workers earning great wages.
With amendments, it would protect Colorado’s tip offset for food-and-beverage workers, including in localities where the non-tipped wage exceeds that of the State. It also gives local control to governments across the state so they can help the businesses in their communities that are struggling with rising labor costs.
WHY IS THIS NECESSARY?
THERE’S A HARD TRUTH WE HAVE TO FACE: RESTAURANTS ARE CLOSING ALL OVER THE STATE, AND ESPECIALLY IN DENVER, AS AN UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCE OF COLORADO’S IMMOVABLE TIP CREDIT.
More than 200 restaurants closed across the state in 2024, with Denver closures accounting for 82% of those losses, according to the city’s Department of Excise and Licenses.
Denver has lost 22% of its restaurants over the past three years, as reported by the Denver Post.
No matter what data you look at, restaurants closing means workers losing their jobs and communities losing their gathering spaces. It’s time to give restaurants some relief so they can continue employing Coloradans and serving their communities.
WHAT IS THE TIP CREDIT?
Colorado employers are allowed to pay tipped employees a base wage that’s less than the non-tipped minimum wage, as long as tips make up the difference; the difference is called the tip credit, or tip offset.
No employee in Colorado is allowed to earn less than the local minimum wage – and this bill doesn’t change that.
Source: 2024 National Restaurant Association data based on U.S. Census data
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
The fixed tip offset of $3.02 in the state constitution means that Colorado restaurants are paying a rapidly increasing percentage of their tipped employees’ wages, which is leading to job cuts, lost hours, and restaurant closures.
Of the 28 U.S. states and cities that allow restaurants to use a tip credit, Denver and Boulder have the highest tipped wages in the country.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR RESTAURANT WORKERS?
This amended bill will NOT decrease wages in any part of Colorado.
It will protect the tip credit and tipping in general, which tipped workers overwhelmingly love and rely on for the great pay they expect from their restaurant jobs.
