THEY’RE FROM THE GOVERNMENT AND THEY’RE HERE TO HELP: Many NJ restaurants could close under a new tipping rule, owners warn.

Under New Jersey labor law, a tipped employee is any worker — full-time, part-time, or temporary — in an occupation in which they “customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips.”

Bill A5433 was introduced last month by Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, D-Mercer, and was up for consideration by the Assembly on Thursday.

Individual restaurant owners and operators are calling the measure a dire situation.

“This is bad legislation for servers, bartenders, restaurant owners, and diners,” according to a social media post shared by the team behind sister restaurants Lita, Judy and Harry’s, and Heirloom Kitchen.

“It threatens the flexible, high-earning potential that tipped employees currently enjoy, and could drive many beloved local establishments to close their doors for good,” the post also said, saying small businesses “are already operating on razor-thin margins.”

A similar move in Washington, D.C., already phased out the tip credit for employers —with harrowing results, Klim said.

In D.C., Initiative 82 was approved by voters in 2023. The move was a main factor in 3,000 workers losing their jobs and the closure of nearly 75 restaurants, according to Klim.

The true minimum wage, as always, remains zero.