TORONTO - Ontario restaurateurs said a new hike in the provincial minimum wage will hit the industry hard while servers fretted Wednesday whether their tips would dry up as a result of the increase.
The 75-cent per hour hike -- the latest in a series of annual increases -- boosts the rate for most employees in the province, including some restaurant staff, to $10.25.
"In this tough economy, the government realizes the need to control its own wage costs, but has no reservations about imposing a huge hike on Ontario restaurant payrolls," said Stephanie Jones of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
"I have received an overwhelming number of calls and emails from restaurant operators outraged by this unfair minimum wage increase, asking how the government could ignore their suffering businesses."
The group estimated the eight per cent boost in minimum pay will cost food-service operators an extra $255 million in wage costs annually.
Jones said restaurant owners could be forced to cut hours and jobs as a result.
The increase is "entirely counterproductive," she said.
However, restaurant wait staff and bartenders who serve alcohol as part of their jobs receive less than the regular minimum wage under provincial law because it's expected they receive tips.
Their pay hike is rising by the same percentage, but only to $8.90 an hour from $8.25.
Leah Norman, who worked in alcohol serving establishments for 10 years, said it's important people understand servers depend on tips to boost pay to the regular minimum-wage level.
She said she worries restaurant patrons would simply assume their servers make the regular minimum wage and tip less as a result.
"People can be pretty petty with their tipping," Norman said.
"Most people don't tip as much as the government and its tax collectors think they should (or) do."
