Some Albertans can expect a raise this fall as the provincial government is increasing the minimum wage. However, the pay hike won’t affect minimum wage earners who serve liquor and accept tips as part of their jobs.
On Sept. 1, Alberta’s minimum wage will increase by 35 cents for about 26,000 Albertans to $9.75 per hour, but it will remain at $9.05 for people who serve liquor and accept tips.
Jay Fisher, Alberta Human Services public affairs officer, said minimum wage should provide a reasonable salary to workers, while not overly burdening employers.
“We have to look at this as a balance, whether it’s an attractive enough wage to bring people into these jobs, while still keeping the employer in mind,” he said.
The Province set two categories for minimum wage last year with a lower rate for people who serve liquor and accept tips.
The minimum wage will be reviewed every year in May to see if any changes are required. The inflation rate and average weekly earnings data from Statistics Canada will be used to determine potential increases to the minimum wage. If changes are recommended, they will come into effect at the beginning of September each year.
“If there is a number that comes up as a suggested increase based on those two indices, then government will look very closely at whether or not that’s warranted,” said Fisher. “In this case they decided it is.”
Minimum wage for tip earners will remain at $9.05 per hour until there is a $1 difference between the two wages. From that point they will then rise in tandem.
Fisher acknowledged the amount of tips will vary from day-to-day as servers often have to share a portion of their tips with other employees such as busers and kitchen staff.
“Every employer has a different set up for tips, it ranges for everywhere from 100 per cent to the server to a tip-out situation, so yes there is some differences there,” he said.
Fisher said it would be uncommon for people to end up taking home less after factoring in their tips than they would earn on general minimum wage. In those cases, he said they could try to resolve the situation with their employer.
In her previous job with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Wildrose leader Danielle Smith lobbied for a separate minimum wage for people who earned tips.
“It’s not a huge differential they’re looking at,” she said. “I would say it would have to be a pretty bad tip night if you worked a five hour shift and only made $5 in tips.”
Smith criticized the minimum wage increase, saying the Province isn’t giving businesses enough notice about the change and they deserved to be consulted.
She said increasing the minimum wage may end up forcing some business owners to reduce hours to employees.
Ultimately, she said the minimum wage is intended to be for entry level positions and employers will adjust their salaries if they can’t attract workers.
“What happens in a hot economy is employers will always be the first to attract workers if they’re finding that nobody’s applying for those jobs,” she said. “That has historically been the case in Alberta.”
Reviews for the new system are mixed among servers in Okotoks.
Julie Ward, a server at the Royal Duke, said tips will make up the difference, and then some.
“It seems fair to me,” she said.
Ward said she has worked in retail and other jobs where she didn’t earn tips and ended up earning less than she does now.
Rayna Crossan, server at The George Traditional House, won’t complain, but she also doesn’t completely agree with the system.
“It does feel like, why don’t I make the same wage,” she said.
Crossan said servers will usually make up the difference between the two minimum wages. in her case, she earns more than minimum wage because she works during the daytime hours, which are generally slower and servers can expect to see less in tips.
She said the minimum wage system doesn’t take differences disparities in tipping into account.
Crossan said the amount of tips people receive varies widely from day-to-day, and from place-to-place, and the system means servers can’t afford to have a bad day for tips. As well, depending on the rules at different establishments, she said servers often have to tip-out a set amount regardless of what they receive in tips.
