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Maryland Tipped Workers Report Pervasive Sexual Harassment, Gender Pay Inequity and Wage Theft 

The subminimum wage for tipped workers is a direct legacy of slavery, created after Emancipation to allow restaurant owners the ability to hire newly freed Black workers – women in particular – and force them to rely on tips. Codified into law in 1938 as part of the New Deal, the subminimum wage for tipped workers continues to affect a workforce that is still overwhelmingly women and disproportionately women of color. Seven states had always required a full minimum wage with tips on top - California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Montana, Minnesota, and Alaska - and have the same or higher restaurant industry growth rates, tipping averages, and small business growth rates as Maryland and the 43 states that have persisted with a subminimum wage for tipped workers.