City Council committee could delay tipped minimum wage increase with new ordinance

The City Council's workforce development committee is expected to vote on an ordinance Tuesday that would delay a raise for tipped workers in Chicago.

Tipped workers in Chicago currently make a subminimum wage of $12.62 an hour, while the full minimum wage for most workers is $16.60. The next wage increase is scheduled for July 1, 2026, which will raise the tipped minimum wage to 84% of the full minimum wage. The city's minimum wage increases every year on July 1 by 2.5% or matching the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.

The minimum wage for tipped workers is set to gradually increase to the full minimum wage by July 1, 2028, in accordance with the "One Fair Wage Ordinance" the city council passed in 2023.

But earlier this year, the city council passed an ordinance to freeze minimum wage hikes for tipped workers at the current rate of $12.62 an hour. Those who supported the freeze said the wage increases were negatively impacting the hospitality industry.

"We've lost a ton of restaurants, and a lot of servers have lost their jobs, and frankly we need servers. We want our restaurants to thrive," said 39th Ward Ald. Samantha Nugent, who led the effort to freeze the tipped minimum wage, in March. "This legislation will help protect servers and back-of-the-house jobs and keep small independent restaurants open."

Mayor Johnson vetoed that ordinance, saying that he would "not allow our progress to be put on pause." The Chicago City Council failed to override that veto.

The new ordinance in the workforce development committee would push the wage increase back a year; instead of getting a raise on July 1, 2026, tipped workers would next get a raise on July 1, 2027, and they would reach the full minimum wage in 2029 instead of 2028.

If the ordinance passes the workforce development committee on Tuesday afternoon, it will go to the full City Council for a vote.