SMALL BUSINESS RESTAURANTS SUCCEED WITH ONE FAIR WAGE

Small business restaurants in Illinois are struggling to find staff in what is currently

the most acute staffing crisis in the industry’s history. Just over 200 small busi-

ness restaurants in Illinois have raised wages for tipped workers in order to recruit

staff, and many of these restaurants have joined forces with workers calling for Illinois

lawmakers to pass legislation to end the subminimum wage for tipped workers at the state

and county level.1 This brief compares the experience of small business restaurants and

minority and women-owned restaurant business enterprises (MWBE’s) in Illinois, a sub-

minimum wage state, and states that require all restaurants to pay One Fair Wage – a

full minimum wage with tips on top.