A Seattle restaurant chain that's an area institution is now going to become a
no-tip, living-wage role model:
On Wednesday, Ivar’s will raise the wages of about 100 employees who make less than $15 at its sit-down restaurant Ivar’s Salmon House, at the north end of Lake Union.
Those servers, bussers, dishwashers and others will see an increase in their hourly pay to a flat $15. They will not, however, get any tips because the restaurant will now tell customers they do not need to tip. To make up for that, the restaurant will share its menu-price increases with the employees. Ivar’s management expects that, under the new system, its hourly staff’s annual pay will end up being the same as, or higher than, what they earned last year. [...]
In addition, Ivar’s will increase the pay of minimum-wage workers at its more than 50 quick-service seafood bars and stadium locations to $11 — and not just in Seattle, where the law will require it.
Prices will go up slightly, but the average customer's bill will only increase by four percent, since what they would have tipped in the past will now be factored into menu prices. So a customer who complains loudly about the price increase is probably identifying himself as a customer who has undertipped in the past. Meanwhile, workers will be able to count on a steady wage rather than worrying about slow nights or having lousy tippers seated in their sections.
Seattle's minimum wage is increasing to $15, but won't reach that level until 2017, so Ivar's is getting out ahead of what the law requires. No-tip restaurants remain rare, but are starting to look like a trend in formation.