Overview
- The City Council’s Workforce Development Committee advanced a compromise that would push the next tipped-wage increase to July 1, 2027 and move full parity with the city minimum to 2029.
- Under the plan, the tipped base would be set at 76% of Chicago’s minimum wage for two years for larger restaurants and four years for smaller ones.
- The proposal now heads to the full City Council for a vote next week.
- Mayor Brandon Johnson opposes the delay and the Illinois Restaurant Association backs it as more workable for restaurants facing higher costs.
- Tipped workers now earn $12.62 an hour versus a $16.60 city minimum, and employers must make up any gap when tips and base pay fall short.