SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – To protect restaurant workers’ hard-earned wages, State Rep. Karina Villa, D-West Chicago, recently passed legislation that would ensure that restaurant employees and other workers who earn tips will now be able to keep what they’ve earned without the intervention of their employers.

“Servers and other restaurant workers earn an hourly wage that is far below the state’s current minimum wage, as they are expected to earn tips. Currently, restaurant workers can be exploited by their bosses while their paychecks are held hostage, leaving them financially vulnerable,” said Villa. “My legislation will also help to boost the economy. As the child of local small business owners, I know from experience that when families bring home more take home pay, they invest into our community.”

Villa’s House Bill 3405 provides that gratuities from customers to employees are the property of the employees and may not be retained by an employer. House Bill 3405 will help servers, waiters, waitresses, kitchen staff and all other restaurant workers attain a living wage while they work for less than the state of Illinois’ minimum wage. Villa’s legislation recently passed out of the Illinois House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

“Many restaurant employees are young parents, homeowners and college students, and they deserve to earn a livable wage and should be able to keep their hard-earned tips,” continued Villa. “Restaurant workers work hard for their tips and my legislation will help them to keep what is rightfully theirs.”

For more information, contact Villa’s constituent services office at 630-326-9319 or StateRepKarinaVilla@gmail.com.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – State Rep. Barbara Hernandez, D-Aurora, struck a blow for workers’ rights by helping pass a bill which would prevent employers from taking any part of the tips their employees earn.

“Workers who depend on tips to earn a living wage deserve full control over the money that they earn,” Hernandez said. “Illinois’ workers are struggling every day, and every employee in this state deserves to have the entirety of their tips, wages and more go to them, not to be held onto by their employer.”

Hernandez supported House Bill 3405, which would allow employees to receive the tips they earn in full, barring their employers from withholding those earned wages. Under this law, employees would still be able to pool their tips together if they chose; however, employers would have no authority to influence that either.

“Right now, a server in one of my community’s restaurants could lose rent money to an owner who decides they have a right to keep a part of their employees’ tips. That’s just wrong and unfair,” Hernandez said. “One of my top priorities is to fight for worker’s rights, and this bill will help lift them up with more money in their pockets.”