Tipped Employee Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BUDZINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for yielding me time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to this legislation. This bill, deceptively named the Tipped Employee Protection Act, would change Federal wage law to allow employers to treat almost any worker as a tipped employee, even if they receive small or occasional tips. This means lower wages for everyday Americans who are struggling daily with higher costs.

Mr. Speaker, think of a restaurant worker who both waits tables and covers with some back-of-the-house shifts. This legislation would allow her employer to average her tipped wage from waiting tables with the standard minimum wage she earned during her back-of-the-house hours.

By doing this, the employer could justify paying her a subminimum wage for all hours worked. If this bill were to become law, the employer could classify her as a tipped employee and could legally pay her as little as $2.13 an hour.

In a time of rising costs and an uncertain economy and working families all across my district struggling to make ends meet, this bill to reduce take-home pay for workers is tone-deaf, at best. At worst, it is a handout to corporations at a time when workers can least afford it.

For this reason, at the appropriate time, I will offer a motion to recommit this bill back to the committee. If the House rules permitted, I would have offered the motion with an important amendment to this bill.

My amendment would attach the Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act to this bill, which would establish new and increased penalties for violations of overtime and minimum wage requirements, a real commonsense solution for working people.

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Ms. BUDZINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I hope my colleagues will join me in voting for the motion to recommit.

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Ms. BUDZINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion to recommit at the desk.

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Ms. BUDZINSKI. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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