An advocacy group for restaurant workers is criticizing the industry’s role in backing legislation to ease child labor restrictions at the state and federal level, ahead of a large annual trade show that starts this weekend in Chicago.
One Fair Wage campaigns for an end to subminimum wages for tipped workers, which the group says have contributed to workers leaving the industry, exacerbating the staffing crisis restaurants have faced since the pandemic.
In a new report to be released Friday, the group says that the National Restaurant Association has responded to labor shortages by “leading efforts to weaken child labor protections in multiple states nationwide in order to be able to have teenagers take the place of adults who are no longer willing to work for subminimum and poverty wages.”
One Fair Wage is aiming to raise minimum pay in 25 states by 2026 through legislation and ballot initiatives, and plans to hold an event Monday in Chicago with elected officials outside the restaurant trade show. The group notched a recent victory when voters in Washington, D.C., approved a ballot measure last November to phase in a minimum wage of $16.10—with tips on top—for restaurant workers by 2027.
“This is moving with more momentum than we’ve ever seen in our lives, and it’s because so many workers are refusing to work for these wages,” said Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage. She says her group pushes for restaurant workers to get tips in addition to higher minimums.
The National Restaurant Association did not respond to a request for comment. On its website the trade group says the tipped income system creates “greater earning potential” and that eliminating it “is harmful to employees and customers.”
Bills to relax child-labor laws were introduced in at least 10 states between 2021 and early 2023, supported by a mix of business trade associations, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Proponents of bills in various states have pointed to workforce shortages and a desire to create more job opportunities for teens. The spate of legislation has alarmed some child labor experts, union officials, and other advocacy groups, who have brought up concerns about safety on the job and the potential effects on schooling and well-being.
Federal regulators, meanwhile, have warned that they’ve seen a 69% increase in child labor violations since 2018, according to a February news release from the Labor Department. Last month, an analysis of federal data published by Mother Jones found that between January 2018 and November 2022, more than 64% of federal child-labor violations were committed by restaurants.
The new report from One Fair Wage highlights examples of bills supported by state-level restaurant associations in Iowa and Wisconsin to extend work hours for 14- and 15-year-olds, and in Iowa to also allow 16- and 17-year-olds to serve alcohol in restaurants with parental permission.
The Wisconsin bill was vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, in February 2022. The Iowa bill passed the Republican-controlled state house earlier this month and still needs the governor’s signature.
The Wisconsin Restaurant Association did not respond to a request for comment. In testimony on the bill in 2021, the trade group said it supported the concept of extending hours for younger teens, while also noting some compliance concerns with respect to federal law.
“While many would like to frame the motivation behind these new privileges as a way to expand the workforce in restaurants, that is a mischaracterization,” Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said in an email to Barron’s, adding: “These small changes simply expand the opportunities for those teens who are finding fulfilling part-time work in our industry. Today the average starting wage in the vast majority of Iowa restaurants for teens is $12 to $15. However, by expanding the ability to serve in full-service restaurants, we are expanding the earning potential for 16 and 17-year-olds to well above $20 per hour.”
Dunker said teens who are appropriately supervised should be allowed to pursue additional work opportunities if they choose, and that “Iowa’s restaurant industry has long been able to differentiate between what constitutes a child and the maturity level of many teens.”
In Ohio, a bill this session supported by the Ohio Restaurant Association would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work two hours later on school nights—until 9 p.m. instead of 7 p.m.—with permission from parents.
“Employment opportunities, especially in foodservice and hospitality, provide young people the chance to learn skills such as problem solving, time management and customer service,” John Baker, president and CEO of the Ohio Restaurant Association, said in a statement. “These skills provide a strong and lasting foundation throughout their future careers and lives.”
Baker said that 31% of Ohio restaurants currently employ 14- and 15-year-olds, citing his organization’s latest polling. “While helpful for select segments of the industry, extending hours for these employees is not a solution to the workforce shortage, rather an opportunity for young people to earn additional wages with parental consent,” Baker said.
A “Raise the Wage” coalition group in Ohio—which One Fair Wage is leading—has announced plans for a November 2024 ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour—currently at $10.10 an hour for many businesses—and to eliminate its $5.05 hourly tipped wage.
The Ohio Restaurant Association opposes the initiative, Baker said, “as it would burden small businesses and potentially eliminate opportunities for servers.”
Last September, the National Restaurant Association said that lifting restrictions on teen work hours at the federal level could help restaurants, and issued a statement in favor of a federal bill to do so—the Teenagers Earning Everyday Necessary Skills (TEENS) Act. The bill “would provide more opportunity for these teens to learn the business and life skills they gain on the job and would help address the restaurant industry’s workforce challenges,” the association’s executive vice president for public affairs said at the time.
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