DOL WHD: State Labor Laws: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees

	U.S. Department of Labor Employment Standards Administration Wage and Hour Division

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October 16, 2002 DOL Home > ESA > WHD > State Labor Laws > Tipped Employees

Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees

Table of Minimum Hourly Wages for Tipped Employees, by State
Jurisdiction	Future Effective Date	Basic Combined Cash & Tip Minimum Wage Rate	Maximum Tip Credit Against Minimum Wage	Minimum Cash Wage ¹	Definition of Tipped Employee by Minimum Tips received (monthly unless otherwise specified)
FEDERAL: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	More than $30
STATE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW TIP CREDIT
Minimum rate same for tipped and non-tipped employees
Alaska				$5.65
California				$6.75
Guam				$5.15
Minnesota:
Large employer ²				$5.15
Small employer ²				$4.90
Montana:
Business with gross annual sales over $110,000				$5.15
Business with gross annual sales of $110,000 or less				$4.00
Nevada				$5.15
Oregon				$6.50
Washington				$6.90 ³
Minimum rate lower for tipped employees than for non-tipped
New Mexico ⁴				$2.125	More than $30
Puerto Rico ⁵
STATE LAW ALLOWS TIP CREDIT
Arkansas		$5.15	50%	$2.575	Not specified
Colorado		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	More than $30

Connecticut		$6.70			At least $10 weekly for full-time employees or $2.00 daily for part-time in hotels and restaurants. Not specified for other industries.
Beauty shop			none	$6.70
Hotel, restaurant			29.3%	$4.74
Bartenders			8.2%	$6.15
Any other industry			$0.35	$6.35
Delaware		$6.15	$3.92	$2.23	More than $30
District of Columbia		$6.15	55%	$2.77	Not specified
Hawaii		$5.75	$0.25	$5.50	More than $20
	1/1/03	$6.25	$0.25	$6.00
(Tip credit permissible only for employees who average 75 cents an hour or more in tips)
Idaho		$5.15	35%	$3.35	More than $30
Illinois		$5.15	$2.06	$3.09	$20
Indiana		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	Not specified
Iowa		$5.15	40%	$3.09	More than $30
Kansas		$2.65	40%	$1.59	More than $20
Kentucky		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	More than $30
Maine		$5.75	50%	$2.88	More than $20
	1/1/03	$6.25	50%	$3.13
Maryland		$5.15	$2.77	$2.38	More than $30
Massachusetts		$6.75	$4.12	$2.63	More than $30
Michigan		$5.15	$2.50	$2.65	Not specified
Missouri		$5.15	Up to 50%	--	Not specified
Nebraska		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	Not specified
New Hampshire		$5.15	50%	$2.58	More than $20
New Jersey		$5.15			Not specified
Hotel, restaurant			40% ⁶	$3.09
Chambermaid, nonseasonal hotel:
without food and/or lodging			11%	$4.58
with food and/or lodging			16%	$4.33
Chambermaid, seasonal hotel:
without food and/or lodging			20%	$4.12
with food and/or lodging			25%	$3.86
New York		$5.15			Not specified
Building service			None	$5.15
Restaurant industry
Food service workers			$1.85	$3.30
All other workers
Employees averaging between $1.15 and $1.64 per hour in tips.			$1.15	$4.00
Employees averaging $1.65 per hour or more in tips.			$1.65	$3.50
Hotel industry
Food service workers			$1.85	$3.30
All other workers (all year and resort hotels)
Employees averaging between $1.15 and $1.64 per hour in tips			$1.15	$4.00
Employees averaging $1.65 per hour or more in tips			$1.65	$3.50
All other workers (Resort Hotels only)			$2.05	$3.10
Chambermaids (Resort Hotels only)
Employees averaging between $0.80 and $1.64 per hour in tips			$0.80	$4.35
Employees averaging $1.65 per hour or more in tips			$1.65	$3.50
Miscellaneous Industries			$0.80	$4.35
(profit making establishments only)			$1.25	$3.90
North Carolina ⁷		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	More than $20
North Dakota		$5.15	33%	$3.45	More than $30
Ohio ⁸		$4.25	50%	$2.125	More than $30
Oklahoma ⁹		$5.15	50% ⁶	$2.58	Not specified
Pennsylvania		$5.15	$2.32	$2.83	More than $30
Rhode Island		$6.15	$3.26	$2.89	Not specified
South Dakota		$5.15	$3.02 ⁶	$2.13	More than $35
Texas		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	More than $20
Utah		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	More than $30
Vermont		$6.25	45%	$3.44	More than $30
Customer service, chambermaids, and counter service employees in hotels, resort hotels, motels, restaurants, and tourist places
All other employees			None	$6.25
Virginia		$5.15	Actual amount received		Not specified
Virgin Islands
Tourist Service and Restaurant industries		$4.65	50%	$2.33	Not specified
All other industries		$4.65	None	$4.65
West Virginia		$5.15	20%	$4.12	Not specified
Wisconsin ¹⁰		$5.15	$2.42	$2.33	Not specified
Wyoming		$5.15	$3.02	$2.13	More than $30

The following seven states, not included in table, do not have State minimum wage laws: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Also not included is Georgia, which exempts tipped employees from its law.

Some states set subminimum rates for minors and/or students or exempt them from coverage, or have a training wage for new hires. Such differential provisions are not displayed in this table.

FOOTNOTES

¹ Other additional deductions are permitted, for example for meals and lodging, except as noted in footnote ⁶.

² Minnesota. A large employer is an enterprise with annual receipts of $500,000 or more; a small employer, less than $500,000.

³ Washington. Beginning January 1, 2001, and annually thereafter, the rate will be adjusted for inflation by a calculation using the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers for the prior year.

⁴ New Mexico. The minimum rate for non-tipped employees is $4.25 per hour.

⁵ Puerto Rico. Rates are established by industry wage orders (mandatory decrees) and vary by industry, occupation or other factors. However, for employers not covered by the FLSA, a new minimum rate equivalent to 70% of the Federal minimum wage ($3.61 p.h.) supersedes all mandatory decree rates below that level, with the mandatory decree program being eventually phased out. A tipcredit allowance is permitted in, 1) the restaurant, bar and soda fountain industry, which has a $3.70 minimum wage for all employees, and 2) the guest house industry, with a minimum of $2.75, but only for those employees who were hired after July 27, 1998. In addition, a lower rate is established for tipped occupations than for nontipped in the hotel industry. For hotel waiters and bellboys, the minimum wage is $2.50 or $2.25, depending on whether annual gross income is $362,500 or more or less than this amount.

⁶ In New Jersey, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, the listed maximum credit is the total amount allowable for tips, food and lodging combined, not for tips alone as in other states.

In New Jersey, in specific situations where the employer can prove to the satisfaction of the labor department that the tips actually received exceed the creditable amount, a higher tipcredit may be taken.

⁷ North Carolina. tipcredit is not permitted unless the employer obtains from each employee, monthly or for each pay period, a signed certification of the amount of tips received.

⁸ Ohio. The minimum cash wage for tipped employees of employers with gross annual sales of $500,000 or less is $2.01 per hour. For non-tipped employees of such employers, the minimum rates are $3.35 for employers with sales from $150,000 to $500,000 and $2.80 with sales under $150,000.

⁹ Oklahoma. For employers with fewer than 10 full-time employees at any one location who have gross annual sales of $100,000 or less, the basic minimum rate is $2.00 per hour, with a 50% maximum tipcredit.

¹⁰ Wisconsin. $2.13 per hour may be paid to employees who are not yet 20 years old and who have been in employment status with a particular employer for 90 or fewer consecutive calendar days from the date of initial employment.

Prepared By:

Division of External Affairs
Wage and Hour Division
Employment Standards Administration
U.S. Department of Labor.

This document was last revised in November 2001; unless otherwise stated, the information reflects requirements that were in effect, or would take effect, as of January 1, 2002.

Table of Minimum Hourly Wages for Tipped Employees, by State

FOOTNOTES

Division of External Affairs Wage and Hour Division Employment Standards Administration U.S. Department of Labor.

Division of External Affairs
Wage and Hour Division
Employment Standards Administration
U.S. Department of Labor.