A few days ago, the minimum wage in Minnesota increased for the first time in years to $8/hour, putting it slightly above the federal minimum of $7.25. Some businesses are responding to the pay hike by tacking on “minimum wage” fees to customers or by taking credit card service charges out of servers’ tips.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has two stories on the reaction to the $.75/hour increase. The first involves a small cafe in Stillwater, MN, that has begun tacking on a $.35 “minimum wage” fee to customers’ bills.
The owner claims that the wage hike will ding him for an additional $10,000 a year, but rather than raise the prices on his menu, he added the new fee to each bill.
Some in the area are not thrilled with the new charge and a few are even calling for a boycott.
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2 comments:
Itry and leave tip in cash even when pay bill by credit card.
We covered this in the run-up to minimum wage increase bill.
All of your vendor's costs become the customer's costs.
This owner is just making the case to his patrons that a portion of their increased costs is directly tied to the wage bump.
If the idiots on TV being cheered on by the unions to demand $15 to work at McD's succeed how much more will your food there cost?
In answering, bear in mind the ripple effect of cost increases as the potato, beef, tomato, etc. make their way from point of origin to your plate.
Won't be pretty.
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