Policy Snapshot DC
District of Columbia Lost Nearly 1,000 Restaurant Jobs Under Initiative 82
Abstract
Tip-credit elimination activists have upheld Washington, D.C. as a paragon of anti-tipping measures for their nationwide minimum wage advocacy. However, these activists have skewed data and ignored the evidence that shows Initiative 82 has wreaked havoc on restaurants and their employees in the District. The latest jobs report shows full-service restaurant employment continues to decline because of the measure.
- District of Columbia full-service restaurant employment has a net loss of 925 jobs since the beginning of Initiative 82 in May 2023. This is while District of Columbia’s total employment has been rising – D.C. total employment increased by nearly 1% over the same period since May 2023;
- This represents a 3.1% percent net employment loss for the full-service restaurant industry since May 2023, when Initiative 82 was first implemented; and
- Prior to Initiative 82, the last year-over-year loss this large in the full-service restaurant industry was in April 2002 (barring COVID effects in 2020).