2024 Arkansas Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2024 Arkansas Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.63.
Effective 2024-01-01Source: Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2023
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2023.
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 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
In 2024, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Arkansas is $2.63 per hour.
Common questions
- Is $2.63 the full wage a tipped employee receives?
- No. A tipped employee must be paid at least $2.63 per hour in cash wages, and their tips must bring their total hourly earnings up to at least the full minimum wage. If tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference.
Every amount on this page is a published figure rather than yours. The Tips needed per hour takes the number you enter and works it out against them, showing which published figure it used.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Arkansas, a tipped employee is a worker who must be paid at least $2.63 per hour in direct wages from the employer. The tips the worker earns must be enough to bring their total hourly compensation up to the applicable minimum wage for each hour worked. This means the employer is allowed to count the worker's tips toward meeting the minimum wage obligation, rather than paying the full minimum wage out of pocket. However, the employer must keep accurate records of the tips the employee receives. If the combination of the $2.63 cash wage plus the tips falls short of the minimum wage in any given hour, the employer is required to make up the difference. This system places the responsibility on the employer to monitor tip earnings and adjust pay accordingly, ensuring that tipped workers in Arkansas never earn less than the minimum wage for their work.
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 tip credit is the difference between the direct cash wage the employer pays and the full minimum wage. Employers may pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.63 per hour and count the employee's tips toward meeting the minimum wage requirement. The tips the employee receives must be sufficient to bridge the gap between that $2.63 cash wage and the applicable minimum wage for each hour worked. This arrangement means the employer does not have to pay the full minimum wage out of pocket as long as the worker's tips make up the shortfall. However, the employer must track tip earnings accurately to ensure the worker is receiving enough in combined wages and tips to meet the minimum wage standard. If the tips fall short in any pay period, the employer is responsible for covering the difference to bring the worker's total compensation up to the required minimum.
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 do not bring their total hourly earnings up to the applicable minimum wage, the employer must add enough to their pay to make up the difference. While employers can pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.63 per hour and rely on tips to reach the minimum wage, this system requires the employer to monitor the worker's tip earnings each pay period. When slow business or other factors result in tips that fall short, the employer cannot simply pay the lower cash wage—they are obligated to increase the worker's paycheck so that total compensation meets the minimum wage standard for every hour worked. The employer also bears the responsibility of keeping accurate tip records to track whether the combined cash wage and tips reach the required threshold. This protection ensures that Arkansas tipped workers never earn below the minimum wage due to circumstances beyond their control.
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, employers have the responsibility to keep accurate tip records for their tipped employees. This record-keeping obligation is essential because the employer must be able to verify whether the combination of the $2.63 per hour cash wage plus the employee's tips is bringing the worker up to the applicable minimum wage for each hour worked. Without proper documentation of tip earnings, the employer cannot determine whether they need to supplement the worker's pay to meet the minimum wage requirement. This tracking duty falls on the employer, not the employee, which means Arkansas businesses that employ tipped workers must maintain systems to monitor and document tip income. The records serve as the basis for ensuring compliance with the rule that tipped employees must never earn less than the minimum wage when their cash wages and tips are combined.
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 federal and state wage laws must pay the highest minimum wage that applies. For tipped employees this means the Arkansas tipped minimum wage of $2.63 per hour controls whenever it is more protective to the worker than the federal tipped minimum wage. The state rule therefore sets the floor that employers in Arkansas must meet when paying tipped workers, and if the federal floor ever exceeded the state floor, the higher federal amount would apply instead. The key point is that the worker receives whichever of the two rates is greater, not the lower one.
An employer covered by both laws must pay the highest minimum wage.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In Arkansas, employers are prohibited from keeping any portion of their employees' tips. This means that all tips received by a tipped employee belong to that employee, and the employer cannot retain, divert, or use any part of those tips for business expenses or other purposes. The tips are the worker's property, even though the employer is allowed to count them toward meeting the minimum wage obligation when paying the $2.63 per hour cash wage. This protection ensures that the tip credit system does not become a way for employers to benefit from their workers' tip income. Arkansas tipped employees have the right to receive and retain all tips earned through their work, and employers must respect that boundary while still maintaining accurate records to verify that the combined cash wage and tips meet the minimum wage standard.
It is the employer’s responsibility to keep accurate tip records.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Arkansas, tip pooling arrangements are subject to the requirement that employers keep accurate tip records. While the document does not specify detailed rules about which employees can be included in tip pools, it does establish that the employer must track and document all tip earnings to ensure compliance with minimum wage requirements. This record-keeping obligation applies regardless of whether tips are kept individually or shared through a pooling arrangement among workers. The employer must be able to verify that each tipped employee's share of pooled tips, combined with the $2.63 per hour cash wage, brings their total compensation up to the applicable minimum wage for each hour worked. Arkansas employers who operate tip pools must maintain systems that accurately capture how tips are collected, distributed, and received by each participant in the arrangement.
It is the employer’s responsibility to keep accurate tip records.
Minimum Wage and Overtime (Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Arkansas, the tipped employee wage rules apply to workers in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. When an employee performs two different jobs for the same employer—one that involves regular tip-earning and one that does not—the employer must treat each occupation separately. For the job where the worker regularly receives tips, the employer may pay the $2.63 per hour cash wage and count tips toward the minimum wage. However, for the job that does not typically generate tips, the employer must pay the full minimum wage without using a tip credit. Arkansas employers who have workers performing dual roles must track hours and earnings for each occupation independently to ensure that the lower tipped wage is only applied to work in the tip-earning position. This prevents employers from paying sub-minimum wages for work that does not involve the kind of regular tip income that justifies the special wage treatment.
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