2019 Arkansas Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2019 Arkansas Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.63.
Effective 2019-01-01Source: Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)Verified 2026-08-31
Compared with 2018
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2018.
| Item | 2018 | 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.63 | $2.63 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Arkansas
What changed this year, and why
Arkansas sets a minimum cash wage of $2.63 per hour for tipped employees in 2019. Employers must ensure that the cash wage plus tips received equals at least the applicable minimum wage; if tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference.
Common questions
- What happens if a tipped employee's tips do not bring their total pay up to minimum wage?
- Employers must pay tipped employees at least $2.63 per hour in cash wages. If the employee's tips combined with the cash wage do not reach the applicable minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Arkansas, your employer can take a tip credit against the minimum wage you're owed, but must still pay you a direct cash wage of at least $2.63 per hour. The tip credit equals the difference between that direct wage and the full minimum wage. This means your employer pays you $2.63 per hour in cash, and counts your tips toward the rest of what you're owed. However, if your tips plus the $2.63 don't add up to the full minimum wage for any work period, your employer must make up the difference. The employer must also keep accurate records of the tips you receive.
Tipped employees must be paid at least $2.63 per hour. The tips they earn must be enough to bring them up to the applicable minimum wage per hour.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In Arkansas, if your tips plus the $2.63 per hour your employer pays you don't add up to the full minimum wage for a work period, your employer must make up the difference. This means your total compensation for each hour worked must reach at least the applicable minimum wage rate. The employer has the responsibility to monitor your tip earnings and add whatever additional amount is needed to ensure you receive the full minimum wage. This protection ensures that the tip credit system doesn't result in you earning less than minimum wage.
If the tips do not bring them up to minimum wage, the employer must add enough to their pay to do so.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In Arkansas, your employer must keep accurate records of the tips you receive. This recordkeeping responsibility falls on the employer, not on you as the employee. The employer needs to track your tip income to ensure that when combined with the cash wage of $2.63 per hour they pay you, your total compensation reaches at least the applicable minimum wage. If your tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference based on these records.
It is the employer’s responsibility to keep accurate tip records.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In Arkansas, your employer, your manager, and your supervisor are prohibited from keeping any portion of your tips. All tips you receive belong to you. Even though your employer can pay you a reduced cash wage of $2.63 per hour and count your tips toward the minimum wage, they cannot use your tips for their own benefit. The tips are yours, and the employer cannot take any share of them for themselves or distribute them to management. This protection ensures that the tip credit system doesn't become a way for employers to profit from customer tips that are intended for employees.
Tipped employees must be paid at least $2.63 per hour.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Arkansas, tip pooling arrangements must be limited to employees who work in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. This means your employer can require you to share your tips with other tipped employees such as bussers, bartenders, or hosts who also receive tips, but cannot include non-tipped employees like cooks or dishwashers in the tip pool. The tip pool must only include workers whose jobs traditionally involve receiving tips from customers. This restriction ensures that tip pooling stays within the intended scope of the tipped employee wage system and doesn't force tipped employees to share with non-tipped workers.
Tipped employees must be paid at least $2.63 per hour.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Arkansas, if you perform both tipped and non-tipped work for the same employer, you are considered a tipped employee only for the hours you actually work in the tipped occupation. Your employer can pay you the reduced cash wage of $2.63 per hour only for the time you spend working as a server or in another tipped role where you regularly receive tips. For the hours you work in non-tipped positions, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage. You cannot be classified as a tipped employee for all your working hours just because one of your jobs involves receiving tips. This rule prevents employers from applying the tip credit to work that doesn't involve tipped activities.
Tipped employees must be paid at least $2.63 per hour.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
How each figure was verified
Each number below was read from a stored copy of the document named beside it, and checked to occur word for word in the quoted sentence. The digest is of that stored text.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
- Minimum cash wage
Tipped employees must be paid at least $2.63 per hour.
Other years
Every Arkansas Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state