By Allissa Kline
Buffalo Business First, Dec. 23, 2016
Minimum wage rates across New York are set to increase next week as part of the state’s multi-year phased wage hike. Starting Dec. 31, the minimum wage rate in most of New York state shifts from $9 per hour to $9.70 per hour. That doesn’t include fast-food workers in Upstate New York, who will make at least $10.75 per hour, or tipped workers, whose hourly rate of $7.50 remains unchanged.
The increases were set in motion in April when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation to enact a statewide $15 minimum wage plan. ... The Business Council opposed the stepped-up increase to $15 per hour, saying it would drive up hourly labor costs and force business owners to cut their workforces.
Buffalo cafe owner and operator Prish Moran, however, doesn’t share that sentiment. She said she has always paid her employees above the state’s minimum wage – in fact, all of her service workers start at $9 per hour, not including tips – but in turn her employees are expected to multi-task, which could mean washing dishes, bussing tables or cleaning bathrooms.
“I’m 100 percent behind it being mandatory,” said Moran, who employs 21 full- and part-time workers at two restaurants, Sweetness_7 Cafe on Grant Street and P. Moran’s on Parkside Avenue. “I’ve done it for years now. I have a great deal of respect for my employees and I believe in it wholeheartedly.”
According to Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, a national network of business owners and organizations who favor higher minimum wages, New York is one of 19 states that will increase their minimum wage rate at the start of the new year. ...
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