They aren't - all 50 states have laws to the effect that minimum wage is minimum wage. The states that also have a lower "tipped minimum wage" require the busin

They aren't - all 50 states have laws to the effect that minimum wage is minimum wage. The states that also have a lower "tipped minimum wage" require the business to make up the difference if tmw + tips < mw. Which makes tipping even more infuriating, since why single out service staff when Amazon warehouse workers have worse jobs at the same basic pay? Raise the minimum wage to something livable, make prices transparent, and be done with tipping. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipped_wage https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipped_wage