2018 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2018 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.23.
Effective 2018-01-01Source: Delaware Department of Labor Labor Law Poster (Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2017
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2017.
| Item | 2017 | 2018 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.23 | $2.23 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Delaware employers with tipped employees
What changed this year, and why
Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped employees for 2018
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum cash wage in Delaware for 2018?
- The minimum cash wage that Delaware employers must pay tipped employees is $2.23 per hour.
- Who qualifies as a tipped employee?
- Employees who receive tips. The employer must be able to prove that the employee received enough tips to bring total compensation up to the full minimum wage.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Delaware, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act definition controls who counts as a tipped employee for purposes of the tipped minimum wage. An employee is a "tipped employee" only if they work in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. The tips must actually be received by the employee — promised or anticipated tips do not count toward tipping status or toward the tip credit. If a worker in Delaware performs work in an occupation where tips typically fall below that $30-a-month threshold, their employer cannot treat them as tipped under federal law, even if an occasional customer leaves a tip. This $30 threshold is one of several conditions an employer must meet before it can pay the tipped cash wage of $2.23 per hour and apply a tip credit against the regular minimum wage.
Under the FLSA, a tipped employee is an employee engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Delaware, an employer can use a tip credit to count a tipped worker's tips toward the minimum wage, but the employer still must pay a cash wage directly to the employee. Under the federal FLSA, the lowest cash wage allowed is $2.13 per hour, and the tip credit is the difference between that cash wage and the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour — up to a maximum credit of $5.12 per hour. Delaware's own minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.23 per hour, which is higher than the federal floor. Because the state standard is most protective, Delaware employers must pay at least $2.23 and their maximum tip credit is correspondingly smaller than the federal $5.12. Only tips the employee actually receives count toward the credit.
An employer can take an FLSA tip credit equal to the difference between the direct wage, or the cash wage it pays directly to the tipped employee, and the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour. The maximum tip credit that an employer can currently claim is $5.12 per hour: ($7.25 - $2.13 direct (or cash) wage = $5.12).
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In Delaware, the tip credit means your employer pays you a cash wage of $2.23 per hour and counts your tips toward meeting the minimum wage. But in any workweek where your tips plus the $2.23 cash wage fall below the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour, the employer must make up the difference. This guarantee applies in each individual workweek — not on average over a month or a pay period. If a slow week leaves you short, the employer owes you the difference before your next paycheck. This backstop ensures that the tip credit never results in you earning less than the minimum wage for the hours you worked.
If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct (or cash) wages do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour in each workweek, the employer must make up the difference.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In Delaware, an employer who wants to use a tip credit must first tell you, in writing or orally, five things: the cash wage it is paying you, the amount of the tip credit it is claiming, that the credit cannot exceed the tips you actually received, that you keep all your tips except for a valid tip pool, and that the credit will not apply unless you have been told all of this. Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped workers is $2.23 per hour, so your employer must tell you it is paying at least that amount. If the employer fails to give you this notice before it takes the credit, it loses the right to use the tip credit at all and owes you the full minimum wage for every hour you worked. The notice must come before the first paycheck on which the credit is applied, not after.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA: the amount of the direct (or cash) wage the employer is paying a tipped employee, which must be at least $2.13 per hour; the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12 (the difference between the minimum required direct (or cash) wage of $2.13 and the current minimum wage of $7.25); that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee; that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions. Employers may provide oral or written notice to tipped employees informing them of items 1-5 above. An employer that fails to provide the required information cannot take the section 3(m)(2)(A) tip credit.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Delaware, when state law and federal law set different standards for tipped employees, the employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. The federal FLSA allows a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour, but Delaware's own minimum cash wage for tipped workers is $2.23 per hour. Because the state figure is higher, Delaware employers must pay at least $2.23 regardless of what the federal floor says. Similarly, if Delaware were to prohibit the tip credit entirely, an employer in the state would have to pay the full minimum wage without counting tips. The rule simply means you always get whichever standard — federal or state — puts more money in your pocket.
When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. For example, some states require a higher cash wage than the federal direct (or cash) wage of $2.13 per hour or in some cases prohibit the taking of a tip credit.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In Delaware, federal law prohibits employers from keeping any portion of a tipped employee's tips. This rule applies whether or not the employer takes a tip credit against the minimum cash wage of $2.23. An employer cannot require an employee to hand over their tips to the business, to a manager, or to a supervisor. The prohibition covers both direct retention and indirect retention through a tip pool. This means that all tips received by a tipped worker in Delaware belong to that worker, and no part of those tips may be diverted to the employer or its managerial staff for any purpose.
prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Delaware, when an employer pays the tipped minimum cash wage of $2.23 and takes a tip credit, any mandatory tip pool it imposes must be limited to workers who customarily and regularly receive tips in their occupation. This means a server in Delaware can only be required to share tips with other traditionally tipped workers, such as bussers, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, and service bartenders. The employer may not include back-of-house staff or other employees who do not routinely receive tips in such a pool. The employer also may not keep any of the pooled tips for itself and may not allow managers or supervisors to participate in the pool. An employer that implements a traditional tip pool must notify tipped employees of any required contribution amount and may only take a tip credit for tips each tipped employee ultimately receives after the pool's distribution.
An employer that takes a tip credit can require tipped employees to contribute tips only to a tip pool which is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), bussers, and service bartenders.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Delaware, some workers hold two different roles for the same employer. For example, a hotel maintenance worker may also work as a server. When an employee works in two separate occupations, they are considered a tipped employee only for the job in which they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips. The employer may take a tip credit, and pay the cash wage of $2.23, only for the hours the employee spends in the tipped role. For all hours worked in the non-tipped role, such as maintenance, no tip credit may be taken and the employer must pay the full minimum wage. This rule ensures that the lower tipped wage applies only to work that actually produces tips, and that hours spent in a separate, non-tipped occupation are compensated at the full minimum wage without any tip credit offset.
In such a situation the employee, if they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for their work as a server, is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
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.
Delaware Department of Labor Labor Law Poster (Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs)
- Minimum cash wage
The minimum cash wage payable to employees who receive tips is $ 2.23 per hour, effective 10/1/96.
Other years
Every Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state