A Minnesota Restaurant Is Putting The Cost Of A Minimum Wage Increase On Customer Checks

A Minnesota restaurant has started charging a fee to offset a minimum wage hike.

The Oasis cafe in Stillwater is charging customers an extra 35 cents, reports CBS Minnesota.

Minnesota recently raised the minimum wage for tipped employees. Oasis told CBS that the change would cost the restaurant about $10,000 a year.

Patrons of the restaurant are complaining on its Facebook page.

"If you cannot afford to pay your employees, maybe you cannot afford to run a restaurant," one man who identified himself as a former customer said.

Numerous people called for a boycott.

"You're essentially blaming customers for the increase when you charge for it the way you do," one Facebook commenter wrote.

Eater points out that restaurants have also implemented fees to cover increased healthcare costs.

One Florida restaurant started charging an additional 1% this year.

Here's a receipt with the surcharge, via local news station WCCO.