Final answer:
Option (D), The federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour. Movements and advocacy groups such as One Fair Wage have called for increased protections and wages for restaurant workers, especially highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Step-by-step explanation:
The federal minimum wage for tipped employees is $2.13 per hour, so long as the employee's tips are enough to make up the remainder of the minimum hourly wage. This rate has been a topic of much debate especially within the context of the restaurant industry, which has been identified as one of the fastest growing yet lowest paying sectors of the economy. For tipped employees, this subminimum wage can lead to financial instability, especially in situations where diners do not leave adequate tips or when the tips are distributed unevenly among workers.
Moreover, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the reliance on tips became even more precarious, leading to calls for increased protections and standard wages for these workers. Interest groups like One Fair Wage have advocated for changes to better support employees in the restaurant industry. In broader terms, the push for higher wages is exemplified by movements such as the increase in the minimum wage for fast food workers in New York to $15 per hour and President Biden's executive order to raise the federal contractors' minimum wage to the same amount.