IV 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1528 
Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to protect the rights of 
restaurant workers. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 16, 2022 
Ms. TLAIB (for herself, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Ms. NEWMAN) submitted 
the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and 
Means, the Judiciary, Financial Services, Energy and Commerce, Agri-
culture, Oversight and Reform, Armed Services, Veterans’ Affairs, Nat-
ural Resources, Foreign Affairs, and House Administration, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
RESOLUTION 
Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to protect 
the rights of restaurant workers. 
Whereas as of 2022— 
(1) there are over 11 million restaurant workers in 
the United States, comprising over 10-percent of the 
overall workforce; and 
(2) over 60-percent of American adults report work-
ing in the restaurant industry at some point during their 
lives and 48-percent report having held their first regular 
job in a restaurant; 
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Whereas the restaurant industry workforce is extremely di-
verse, in which— 
(1) 54-percent are women and nearly 1⁄2 are workers 
of color; 
(2) Latino and Latina workers are the most rep-
resented racial or ethnic group in the restaurant indus-
try; and 
(3) over 1⁄5 of restaurant workers are immigrants, 
who are denied access to public programs simply because 
of their immigration status; 
Whereas more than 1⁄3 of all women working in the res-
taurant industry are mothers, and well over 1⁄2 of those 
are single moms. 
Whereas restaurant workers live in poverty at nearly 3 times 
the rate of the general workforce, and access food stamps 
and Medicaid at nearly twice the rate of the overall work-
force. 
Whereas employers in 16 States are permitted to pay res-
taurant workers just $2.13 an hour before tips, a tipped 
minimum cash wage that Congress has not raised since 
1991 and that exacerbates the economic impacts of 
sexism and racism, as demonstrated by the fact that in 
those 16 States— 
(1) the racial divide in poverty levels is exacerbated, 
with restaurant workers of color living in poverty at levels 
3.9 percentage points higher than white restaurant work-
ers; and 
(2) sexual harassment is higher than in the States 
where employers are required to pay the full minimum 
wage with tips on top; 
Whereas 23.5-percent of workers in the restaurant industry 
lived without health coverage in 2017, which is nearly tri-
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ple the national rate, and only 31-percent of restaurants 
offer health insurance coverage for their staff according 
to a survey of restaurant owners; 
Whereas low wages, unjust working conditions, and bans on 
abortion coverage like the Hyde Amendment, all interfere 
with someone’s ability to make their own decisions about 
pregnancy and whether to become a parent, and dis-
proportionately affect women and people of color; 
Whereas wage theft, discrimination, and other violations of 
wage and hour law are extremely common in the res-
taurant industry, and restaurant workers are more likely 
to experience discrimination in restaurants, including sex 
discrimination, discrimination against parents, racism 
and racist hiring practices; 
Whereas the rate of sexual harassment among female res-
taurant workers is the highest of any industry, with fe-
male workers filing sexual harassment charges at twice 
the rate of the general workforce, with one survey of res-
taurant industry workers finding that more than 70-per-
cent of women reported having experienced some form of 
sexual harassment in the workplace; 
Whereas since the United States is currently the only OECD 
country with no national paid family leave and one of the 
few high-income countries without a national family 
caregiving or medical leave policy, the majority of res-
taurant workers have no guaranteed paid or unpaid 
leave; 
Whereas in a survey of COVID impacts on the restaurant in-
dustry, 42-percent of respondents said that someone at 
their workplace tested positive for COVID–19 and 68- 
percent said that the virus impacted their workplaces 
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with them or their coworkers testing positive, and one in 
ten restaurant workers went to work with COVID–19 
symptoms because of economic pressures; 
Whereas nearly 6 million restaurant workers lost their jobs 
in 2020, disproportionately impacting women and work-
ers of color; and 
Whereas unemployment in the restaurant industry in the 
United States was 41.8-percent in April 2020, at the 
height of the pandemic, which was more than twice the 
rate of unemployment in the private sector overall: Now, 
therefore, be it 
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that— 
(1) it is the duty of the Federal Government to 
develop a restaurant workers’ bill of rights through 
transparent inclusive consultation, collaboration, and 
partnership with restaurant workers, including mem-
bers of frontline and vulnerable communities, labor 
unions, civil society groups, academia, and busi-
nesses to ensure that restaurant workers have— 
(A) the right to a thriving life by being 
paid a thriving wage, having access to safe, sta-
ble and sufficient housing and affordable 
childcare, and being economically secure in re-
tirement; 
(B) the right to healing and rest by having 
paid time to recover from illness, care for fam-
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ily members, and engage in life outside of work 
as well as consistent schedules that allow their 
families to thrive; 
(C) the right to a safe and dignified work 
environment by ensuring restaurant workers are 
safe from discrimination and harassment in the 
workplace; 
(D) the right to healthcare and bodily au-
tonomy by making certain that all restaurant 
workers have access to comprehensive and af-
fordable healthcare, including a full range of re-
productive and gender-affirming care; and 
(E) the right to participation in govern-
ance by exercising their rights as citizens, vot-
ers, activists, and organizers at all levels of gov-
ernment and at our workplaces, free from pres-
sure and coercion from employers; 
(2) the right to a thriving life will be imple-
mented by— 
(A) enacting a Federal law requiring all 
tipped and non-tipped restaurant workers to be 
paid a full thriving wage, which would eliminate 
the tip credit and prohibit employers from pay-
ing workers anything less than the full min-
imum wage, with tips on top; 
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