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HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4254
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
——————
INITIATIVE PETITION OF IRENE S. LI AND OTHERS
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY.
BOSTON, JANUARY 16, 2024.
Steven T. James
Clerk of the House of Representatives
State House
Boston, Massachusetts 02133
Sir: — I herewith transmit to you, in accordance with the
requirements of Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution an
initiative petition for “A Law Requiring the Full Minimum Wage for Tipped
Workers with Tips on Top,” signed by ten qualified voters and filed with this
department on or before December 6, 2023, together with additional signatures
of qualified voters in the number of 84,804, being a sufficient number to comply
with the Provisions of said Article.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM FRANCIS GALVIN
Secretary of the Commonwealth.
AN INITIATIVE PETITION.
Pursuant to Article XLVIII of the Amendments to the Constitution of the
Commonwealth, as amended, the undersigned qualified voters of the
Commonwealth, ten in number at least, hereby petition for the enactment into
law of the following measure: 2 of 9
FILED ON: 1/23/2024
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4254
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act to require the full minimum wage for tipped workers with tips on top.
Be it enacted by the People, and by their authority, as follows:
1 SECTION 1.
2 Section 7 of Chapter 151 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking the third
3paragraph, as amended by Chapter 121 of the Acts of 2018, and inserting in place thereof the
4following paragraph:-
5 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
6paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
7employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than sixty-four percent of
8the wage in effect under section l ; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips received
9by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified in clause
10(l) and the wage in effect under section 1, with payments to the employee to be consistent with
11section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any tipped employee
12unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of this paragraph,
13and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee, except that this 3 of 9
14paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among employees who
15customarily and regularly receive tips.
16 SECTION 2.
17 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
18inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
19 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
20paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
21employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than seventy-three percent
22of the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips
23received by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified
24in clause (1) and the wage in effect under section 1, with payments to the employee to be
25consistent with section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any
26tipped employee unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of
27this paragraph, and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee,
28except that employer of the provisions of this paragraph, and all tips received by such employee
29have been retained by the employee, except that this paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit
30the pooling of tips among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.
31 SECTION 3.
32 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
33inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:- 4 of 9
34 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
35paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
36employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than eighty-two percent of
37the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips received
38by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified in clause
39(l) and the wage in effect under section l, with payments to the employee to be consistent with
40section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any tipped employee
41unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of this paragraph,
42and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee, except that this
43paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among employees who
44customarily and regularly receive tips.
45 SECTION 4.
46 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
47inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
48 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
49paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (l) the cash wage paid such
50employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than ninety-one percent of
51the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips received
52by such employee, which amount is at least the difference between the wage specified in clause
53(l) and the wage in effect under section 1, with payments to the employee to be consistent with
54section 148 of chapter 149. This paragraph shall not apply with respect to any tipped employee
55unless such employee has been informed by the employer of the provisions of this paragraph, 5 of 9
56and all tips received by such employee have been retained by the employee, except that this
57paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among employees who
58customarily and regularly receive tips.
59 SECTION 5.
60 Said section 7 of said chapter 151 is hereby amended by striking the third paragraph and
61inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
62 In determining the wage an employer is required to pay a tipped employee, the amount
63paid to such employee by the employer shall be an amount equal to: (1) the cash wage paid such
64employee, which for purposes of such determination shall be not less than one hundred percent
65of the wage in effect under section 1; and (2) an additional amount on account of the tips
66received by such employee, with payments to the employee to be consistent with section 148 of
67chapter 149. This paragraph shall not be construed to prohibit the pooling of tips among
68employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.
69 SECTION 6.
70 Section 152A of Chapter 149 of the General Laws is hereby amended by striking
71paragraph (c) and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-
72 (c) Provided that an employer is paying all employees a wage that is not less than the full
73minimum wage as provided in section 1 of chapter 151, the employer may require that wait staff
74employees, service employees or service bartenders participate in a tip pool through which such
75employee remits any wage, tip or service charge, or any portion thereof, for distribution to
76employees that are not wait staff employees, service employees or service bartenders. An 6 of 9
77employer may administer a valid tip pool and may keep a record of the amounts received for
78bookkeeping or tax reporting purposes.
79 SECTION 7.
80 Sections 1 and 6 shall take effect on January 1, 2025.
81 SECTION 8.
82 Section 2 shall take effect on January 1, 2026.
83 SECTION 9.
84 Section 3 shall take effect on January 1, 2027.
85 SECTION 10.
86 Section 4 shall take effect on January l, 2028.
87 SECTION 11.
88 Section 5 shall take effect on January 1, 2029. 7 of 9
FIRST TEN SIGNERS
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
CERTIFICATE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL.
Honorable William Francis Galvin
Secretary of the Commonwealth
One Ashburton Place, Room 1705
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
RE: Initiative Petition No. 23-12 : An Act to require the full minimum wage
for tipped workers with tips on top
Dear Secretary Galvin:
In accordance with the provisions of Article 48 of the Amendments to
the Massachusetts Constitution, I have reviewed the above-referenced initiative
petition, which was submitted to me on or before the first Wednesday of August
of this year.
I hereby certify that this measure is in proper form for submission to
the people; that the measure is not, either affirmatively or negatively,
substantially the same as any measure which has been qualified for submission
or submitted to the people at either of the two preceding biennial state elections;
and that it contains only subjects that are related or are mutually dependent and
which are not excluded from the initiative process pursuant to Article 48, the
Initiative, Part 2, Section 2.
In accordance with Article 48, I enclose a fair, concise summary of the
measure.
Sincerely,
ANDREA JOY CAMPBELL,
Attorney General. 9 of 9
Summary of 23-12
This proposed law would gradually increase the minimum hourly wage an
employer must pay a tipped worker, over the course of five years, on the following
schedule: - To 64% of the state minimum wage on January 1, 2025; - To 73% of
the state minimum wage on January 1, 2026; - To 82% of the state minimum wage
on January 1, 2027; - To 91% of the state minimum wage on January 1, 2028; and
- To 100% of the state minimum wage on January 1, 2029. The proposed law
would require employers to continue to pay tipped workers the difference between
the state minimum wage and the total amount a tipped worker receives in hourly
wages plus tips through the end of 2028. The proposed law would also permit
employers to calculate this difference over the entire weekly or bi-weekly payroll
period. The requirement to pay this difference would cease when the required
hourly wage for tipped workers would become 100% of the state minimum wage
on January 1, 2029. Under the proposed law, if an employer pays its workers an
hourly wage that is at least the state minimum wage, the employer would be
permitted to administer a “tip pool” that combines all the tips given by customers to
tipped workers and distributes them among all the workers, including non-tipped
workers.