Small Business Restaurants Succeed With One Fair Wage: A California & Maryland Comparative Analysis

Small business restaurants in Maryland are struggling to find staff in what is currently the worst staffing crisis in the industry’s history. Nearly 100 small business restaurants in Maryland have raised wages for tipped workers in order to recruit staff, and many of these restaurants have joined forces with workers calling for Maryland lawmakers to pass pending policy to end the subminimum wage for tipped workers at the state and county level. 

This brief compares the experience of small businesses and minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBE’s) in Maryland, a subminimum wage state, and states that require all restaurants to pay One Fair Wage – a full minimum wage with tips on top.