Tipped Service Workers Are More Vulnerable Amid Pandemic Harassment Spike: Study

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Customers sit outside a restaurant offering outdoor service in New York in October. A new survey shows that tipped service workers are facing a marked increase in harassment during the pandemic.





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Bebeto Matthews/AP



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Adults With COVID-19 Twice As Likely To Have Eaten At Restaurants, CDC Study Finds

Those surveyed also expressed concerns about proper health protocols at their places of work, which, according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, are environments that are conducive to a high risk of spreading the coronavirus. A September report from the CDC found that adults who had contracted from COVID-19 were twice as likely than virus-free adults to have recently dined at a restaurant.

Women and transgender workers tend to bear the brunt of the harassment experienced in the restaurant industry.

«Every single day, these women are putting their lives on the line trying to serve customers, Jayaraman said.

To her, the solution is clear cut: pay service workers fair wages.

«When you get a full wage from your boss, you don’t have to put up with everything from the customers, she said.

Seven states have eliminated the federal subminimum wage, which allows employers to pay tipped workers as little as $2.13 per hour. Workers in those states report one-half the rate of sexual harassment compared to workers in states with the subminimum wage, according to One Fair Wage.

In what Jayaraman terms «maskual harassment, the phenomenon’s underlying power imbalance is no different than sexual harassment, she said, when workers are reliant on the customer’s tips.

Demanding a service worker to take their mask off, she argued, is asking them to «subject herself to the virus and the possibility of death — for the sexual pleasure of customers, all because she doesn’t get paid a minimum wage.

In response to the One Fair Wage report findings, the National Restaurant Association told NPR in a statement that it condemns sexual harassment and continues to work to confront that challenge through workplace training programs.

«It does not matter if the harasser is a customer, a colleague or a manager, it will not be tolerated in our industry, the statement read.

The association also said it’s «open to the conversation about wage levels in the industry and the impact any change would have on the economic recovery of both workers and restaurant operators.

NPR’s Isabella Gomez Sarmiento and D. Parvaz produced and edited the audio version of this story.