The Structural Contexts of Low-Wage Work: Restaurant Employment Practices Across Firm Geography, Size, and Ownership Status

This qualitative organizational case study examined how restaurant employers respond to a minimum wage mandate through human resource practices they apply to waitstaff. The author considered three contextual factors as potential correlates of such practices: restaurants' geographic location, size, and ownership. Data come from interviews with owners and managers of 15 restaurants in Washington State, home of the nation's highest minimum wage. Findings suggest that employers' discretion over working conditions shapes waiters' work schedule, and in turn take-home pay and benefits eligibility, effects partly patterned by the contextual factors. The author discusses public strategies for improving job quality given these findings.