Restaurant adds minimum wage fee to all bills


A Minnesota restaurant is pushing the cost of the raising of minimum wage directly to the customers.  But instead of raising prices, the restaurant owner is adding a flat fee.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Oasis Cafe owner Craig Beemer has started adding a 35-cent "minimumwage fee" to offset the 75-cent wage hike  The raise took effect Aug. 1.

The cafe has been the focus of complaints on social media, with one poster saying that the fee gives a negatave light to the staff, KMSP reported.

But the cafe's owner responded on Facebook, saying the fee will cover part of the company's estimated $10,000 increase in labor costs incurred by the 75-cent minimum wage hike and that instead of raising prices, the owners instituted the fee, KMSP reported.

Meanwhile, another restaurant chain, Blue Plate Restaurant Co., is charging a fee to its servers when customers pay tips with a credit card.  The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported the company claims the fee is needed because wage raises and health care reform are increasing company costs.

No surprise, many have taken to social media to respond to the fee.