Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H4254 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 9
2	2	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4254
3	3	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
4	4	——————
5	5	INITIATIVE PETITION OF IRENE S. LI AND OTHERS
6	6	OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY.
7	7	BOSTON, JANUARY 16, 2024.
8	8	Steven T. James
9	9	Clerk of the House of Representatives
10	10	State House
11	11	Boston, Massachusetts 02133
12	12	Sir: — I herewith transmit to you, in accordance with the
13	13	requirements of Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution an
14	14	initiative petition for “A Law Requiring the Full Minimum Wage for Tipped
15	15	Workers with Tips on Top,” signed by ten qualified voters and filed with this
16	16	department on or before December 6, 2023, together with additional signatures
17	17	of qualified voters in the number of 84,804, being a sufficient number to comply
18	18	with the Provisions of said Article.
19	19	Sincerely,
20	20	WILLIAM FRANCIS GALVIN
21	21	Secretary of the Commonwealth.
22	22	AN INITIATIVE PETITION.
23	23	Pursuant to Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the
24	24	Commonwealth, as amended, the undersigned qualified voters of the
25	25	Commonwealth, ten in number at least, hereby petition for the enactment into
26	26	law of the following measure: 2 of 9
27	27	FILED ON: 1/23/2024
28	28	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4254
29	29	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
30	30	_______________
31	31	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
32	32	(2023-2024)
33	33	_______________
34	34	An Act to require the full minimum wage for tipped workers with tips on top.
35	35	Be it enacted by the People, and by their authority, as follows:
36	36	1 SECTION 1.
37	37	2 Section 7 of Chapter 151 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the third
38	38	3paragraph, as amended by Chapter 121 of the Acts of 2018, and inserting in place thereof the
39	39	4following paragraph:-
40	40	5 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
41	41	6paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
42	42	7employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than sixty-four percent of
43	43	8the wage in effect under section l ; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips received
44	44	9by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified in clause
45	45	10(l) and the wage in effect under section 1, with payments to the employee to be consistent with
46	46	11section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any tipped employee
47	47	12unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of this paragraph,
48	48	13and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee, except that this 3 of 9
49	49	14paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among employees who
50	50	15customarily and regularly receive tips.
51	51	16 SECTION 2.
52	52	17 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
53	53	18inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
54	54	19 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
55	55	20paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
56	56	21employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than seventy-three percent
57	57	22of the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips
58	58	23received by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified
59	59	24in clause (1) and the wage in effect under section 1, with payments to the employee to be
60	60	25consistent with section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any
61	61	26tipped employee unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of
62	62	27this paragraph, and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee,
63	63	28except that employer of the provisions of this paragraph, and all tips received by such employee
64	64	29have been retained by the employee, except that this paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit
65	65	30the pooling of tips among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.
66	66	31 SECTION 3.
67	67	32 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
68	68	33inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- 4 of 9
69	69	34 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
70	70	35paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
71	71	36employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than eighty-two percent of
72	72	37the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips received
73	73	38by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified in clause
74	74	39(l) and the wage in effect under section l, with payments to the employee to be consistent with
75	75	40section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any tipped employee
76	76	41unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of this paragraph,
77	77	42and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee, except that this
78	78	43paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among employees who
79	79	44customarily and regularly receive tips.
80	80	45 SECTION 4.
81	81	46 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
82	82	47inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
83	83	48 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
84	84	49paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (l) the cash wage paid such
85	85	50employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than ninety-one percent of
86	86	51the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips received
87	87	52by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified in clause
88	88	53(l) and the wage in effect under section 1, with payments to the employee to be consistent with
89	89	54section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any tipped employee
90	90	55unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of this paragraph, 5 of 9
91	91	56and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee, except that this
92	92	57paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among employees who
93	93	58customarily and regularly receive tips.
94	94	59 SECTION 5.
95	95	60 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
96	96	61inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
97	97	62 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
98	98	63paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
99	99	64employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than one hundred percent
100	100	65of the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips
101	101	66received by such employee, with payments to the employee to be consistent with section 148 of
102	102	67chapter 149. This paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among
103	103	68employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.
104	104	69 SECTION 6.
105	105	70 Section 152A of Chapter 149 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking
106	106	71paragraph (c) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
107	107	72 (c) Provided that an employer is paying all employees a wage that is not less than the full
108	108	73minimum wage as provided in section 1 of chapter 151, the employer may require that wait staff
109	109	74employees, service employees or service bartenders participate in a tip pool through which such
110	110	75employee remits any wage, tip or service charge, or any portion thereof, for distribution to
111	111	76employees that are not wait staff employees, service employees or service bartenders. An 6 of 9
112	112	77employer may administer a valid tip pool and may keep a record of the amounts received for
113	113	78bookkeeping or tax reporting purposes.
114	114	79 SECTION 7.
115	115	80 Sections 1 and 6 shall take effect on January 1, 2025.
116	116	81 SECTION 8.
117	117	82 Section 2 shall take effect on January 1, 2026.
118	118	83 SECTION 9.
119	119	84 Section 3 shall take effect on January 1, 2027.
120	120	85 SECTION 10.
121	121	86 Section 4 shall take effect on January l, 2028.
122	122	87 SECTION 11.
123	123	88 Section 5 shall take effect on January 1, 2029. 7 of 9
124	124	FIRST TEN SIGNERS
125	125	NAMERESIDENCECITY OR TOWNIRENE S. LI141 SUTHERLAND ROAD, # 3BOSTONSHEILA IRVIN63 COMMONWEALTH AVENUEPITTSFIELDDAN J. TOTTEN54 BISHOP ALLEN DRIVE, # 2CAMBRIDGESITARA NAHEED354 RINDGE AVENUE, # 1CAMBRIDGEJUNE M. BILLIEL9 EDGEMERE ROADQUINCYSUNIEL S OTO-POL38 SILVER ROADEVERETTELLEN C. PROODIAN18 DANBY ROADSTONEHAMCAROL L. LEVINE270 L ITTLETON R OAD, # 183CHELMSFORDLUCIA G ARDINER RAY37 CHERRY S TREETSOMERVILLEMADELINE CLAIRE HANAFIN125 PLEASANT STREET, # 105ARLINGTON 8 of 9
126	126	CERTIFICATE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
127	127	Honorable William Francis Galvin
128	128	Secretary of the Commonwealth
129	129	One Ashburton Place, Room 1705
130	130	Boston, Massachusetts 02108
131	131	RE: Initiative Petition No. 23-12 : An Act to require the full minimum wage
132	132	for tipped workers with tips on top
133	133	Dear Secretary Galvin:
134	134	In accordance with the provisions of Article 48 of the Amendments to
135	135	the Massachusetts Constitution, I have reviewed the above-referenced initiative
136	136	petition, which was submitted to me on or before the first Wednesday of August
137	137	of this year.
138	138	I hereby certify that this measure is in proper form for submission to
139	139	the people; that the measure is not, either affirmatively or negatively,
140	140	substantially the same as any measure which has been qualified for submission
141	141	or submitted to the people at either of the two preceding biennial state elections;
142	142	and that it contains only subjects that are related or are mutually dependent and
143	143	which are not excluded from the initiative process pursuant to Article 48, the
144	144	Initiative, Part 2, Section 2.
145	145	In accordance with Article 48, I enclose a fair, concise summary of the
146	146	measure.
147	147	Sincerely,
148	148	ANDREA JOY CAMPBELL,
149	149	Attorney General. 9 of 9
150	150	Summary of 23-12
151	151	This proposed law would gradually increase the minimum hourly wage an
152	152	employer must pay a tipped worker, over the course of five years, on the following
153	153	schedule: - To 64% of the state minimum wage on January 1, 2025; - To 73% of
154	154	the state minimum wage on January 1, 2026; - To 82% of the state minimum wage
155	155	on January 1, 2027; - To 91% of the state minimum wage on January 1, 2028; and
156	156	- To 100% of the state minimum wage on January 1, 2029. The proposed law
157	157	would require employers to continue to pay tipped workers the difference between
158	158	the state minimum wage and the total amount a tipped worker receives in hourly
159	159	wages plus tips through the end of 2028. The proposed law would also permit
160	160	employers to calculate this difference over the entire weekly or bi-weekly payroll
161	161	period. The requirement to pay this difference would cease when the required
162	162	hourly wage for tipped workers would become 100% of the state minimum wage
163	163	on January 1, 2029. Under the proposed law, if an employer pays its workers an
164	164	hourly wage that is at least the state minimum wage, the employer would be
165	165	permitted to administer a “tip pool” that combines all the tips given by customers to
166	166	tipped workers and distributes them among all the workers, including non-tipped
167	167	workers.