Here's a discussion about how subminimum wages subject tipped workers to abuse . Tips are not wages. Tips are a bonus for really nice work. It is not the customer's job to pay the employees. It is not the taxpayer's job either. It is the employer's job to pay workers a living wage. The minimum wage must be the minimum for everyone, or it's not really a minimum wage. It's just a threshold for people society actually values, like men and able-bodied folks.