Organizers with the One Fair Wage campaign say increasing pay rates for tipped workers across the state is especially pertinent given the recent arrival of thousands of new immigrants, many of whom have sought work in the restaurant industry. The campaign is pushing for Gov. Kathy Hochul to take up the cause this session in Albany.
So from your hypothetical I guess as long as you have them make a sandwich every now and again you could go as low as $10.65/hr
But unfortunately for you and fortunately for everyone else if after the tips are counted and added for the hours worked, it doesn’t add up to the ~$16/hr minimum the company does actually legally need pay up to cover the difference.
I think it’s actually a pretty clever way to do it and as long as it’s being applied correctly, is a great way to keep some of those high tipping jobs that people fight against getting rid of tipping through completely guaranteed pay but then again it would probably not matter at those places if the servers were still making more base pay.