2022 Arkansas Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2022 Arkansas Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.63.
Effective 2022-01-01Source: Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2021
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2021.
| Item | 2021 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.63 | $2.63 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Tipped employees in Arkansas
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Arkansas in 2022 is $2.63 per hour.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Arkansas for 2022?
- The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Arkansas is $2.63 per hour. The employer must ensure that the employee's tips bring total earnings up to at least the full minimum wage; if tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Arkansas, employers are required to ensure that all employees receive at least the minimum wage. For tipped employees, the state allows employers to pay a lower direct cash wage of $2.63 per hour. However, this lower wage is conditional: the tips the employee receives must be enough to bring their total earnings up to the full applicable minimum wage for each hour worked. If an employee's tips combined with the $2.63 hourly wage do not reach the minimum wage threshold, the employer must make up the difference by adding to the employee's pay. This rule places the responsibility on employers to monitor tip earnings and adjust wages accordingly. Employers are also required to keep accurate records of all tips received by their workers to ensure compliance with this minimum wage guarantee.
Tipped Employees 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)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Arkansas, the state's Minimum Wage Act says that tipped employees must be paid at least $2.63 per hour. This is the minimum cash wage for 2022. The tips a worker earns must be enough to bring their total pay up to the applicable minimum wage for each hour worked. If the tips fall short and do not bring the employee up to minimum wage, the employer must add enough to their pay to make up the difference. The employer has the responsibility to keep accurate tip records to track whether this requirement is being met. This means the cash wage of $2.63 is a floor, but the worker is guaranteed to receive at least the full minimum wage when tips are added in.
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 a tipped employee's tips plus the $2.63 per hour cash wage do not bring the worker up to the full minimum wage for the hours worked, the employer must add enough to their pay to close the gap. The employer cannot accept a slow week and pass the loss to the worker. The duty to make up the shortfall runs for each hour worked, so the employer must track tips and adjust pay before issuing the paycheck to ensure the employee receives at least the full 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, the employer has the responsibility to keep accurate tip records for tipped employees. This duty exists because the employer must track whether the employee's tips plus the $2.63 per hour cash wage reach the full minimum wage for each hour worked. Without accurate records, the employer cannot verify compliance with the make-up requirement or defend its payroll practices if questioned. A worker in Arkansas who believes their employer is not tracking tips properly or is not making up shortfalls should raise the issue with the employer and, if needed, file a complaint with the Labor Standards Division.
It is the employer’s responsibility to keep accurate tip records.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Arkansas, an employer covered by both state and federal wage law must pay the highest minimum wage that applies. This means if federal law sets a higher floor for tipped employees than state law, the federal amount controls, and vice versa. For 2022 the cash wage for tipped employees in Arkansas is $2.63 per hour, but if the federal tipped minimum wage were higher, the employer would have to pay that higher amount instead. The same principle applies to any other overlapping requirement between the two laws: the worker in Arkansas gets whichever rule provides the greater benefit or stronger protection.
An employer covered by both laws must pay the highest minimum wage.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Arkansas, the state Minimum Wage Act does not contain specific rules about dual jobs, but federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act does. An employee who performs both tipped and non-tipped work is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server or other traditionally tipped occupation. The employer may apply the tip credit and pay the lower cash wage of $2.63 only for the hours the worker actually spent in the tipped role. For hours spent doing non-tipped work, the employer must pay the full minimum wage. A worker in Arkansas who splits time between serving and other duties should see two different rates on the same paycheck.
An employer covered by both laws must pay the highest minimum wage.
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