Wages are the compensation paid to a worker for his services. Taxes are the progressive penalty paid to the taxing agency for the increase realized from the worker's services.
A restaurateur may do whatever he wishes with the renumeration to his workers. It's up to him to govern himself. He may not do what he wishes with the taxes.
If he pockets the difference between any other type worker's compensation and that he pays his serving workers, the difference being paid by his customers directly, and the cost of his prepared food is not affected by the difference, and yet he raises the price of his food to make up that customer paid difference to keep the cash flow, he has a greed problem. That problem is totally dependent on his willingness to self-govern.
No law should be passed. There is already spiritual law that covers that behavior and intention.
Why are you convinced, apparently, that a business could expend extra in wages with no effect on its prices, while a similar added expense for supplies or taxes would have an ill effect? You didn't answer this question except to assume:
If he pockets the difference between any other type worker's compensation and that he pays his serving workers, the difference being paid by his customers directly, and the cost of his prepared food is not affected by the difference, and yet he raises the price of his food to make up that customer paid difference to keep the cash flow, he has a greed problem.
Again, what makes you assume that the cost of the food is not related to the wages he pays? I mean, of course, the cost it takes him to prepare and present the food to the diner in a clean, comfortable environment. What you are saying is that he could pay the staff $2/hr and charge $5 for bacon and eggs or he pay $10/hr for staff and still charge $5 for bacon and eggs. The only reason he doesn't is his own greed.
What basis do you have to make this determination?
Finally, you did not answer the basic question, repeated above. Why do you think that one business expense (wages) has a different effect on the prices a business charges than another (taxes, utility cost, supplier increases)?
SD