2019 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2019 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.23.
Effective 2019-01-01Source: Delaware Department of Labor Labor Law Poster (Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2018
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2018.
| Item | 2018 | 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.23 | $2.23 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers in Delaware who pay a tipped minimum cash wage to employees who receive tips
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Delaware was $2.23 per hour in 2019. This is the amount employers must pay directly to employees who receive tips. Employers must be able to prove that each tipped employee received enough tips to bring their total compensation up to the full state minimum wage rate.
Common questions
- What was the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Delaware in 2019?
- The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Delaware was $2.23 per hour in 2019.
- Who does the tipped minimum wage apply to?
- It applies to employees in Delaware who regularly receive tips as part of their compensation.
Who counts as a tipped employee
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, a tipped employee in Delaware is anyone who works in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold is what separates tipped workers from other employees for wage purposes. If you meet this definition in Delaware, your employer is allowed to pay you a lower direct cash wage—called the "tipped minimum wage"—and count a portion of your tips toward its minimum wage obligation. In 2019, Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped employees was $2.23 per hour. Whether or not the employer actually claims a tip credit, only the tips you actually receive count toward determining if you qualify as a tipped employee and toward any tip credit calculation.
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
A tip credit lets an employer count some of the tips you receive as part of your minimum wage, so it can pay you a lower direct cash wage. In Delaware in 2019, the minimum cash wage employers had to pay tipped workers directly was $2.23 per hour. The employer can then claim a tip credit for the difference between that cash wage and the full minimum wage it owes you. The key requirement is that your cash wage plus your tips must add up to at least the full minimum wage in every workweek. Only tips you actually received count toward this calculation—projected or average tips do not. If the combination of your $2.23 cash wage and your tips falls short in any workweek, your employer must pay you enough to reach the full minimum wage for that period.
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.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
If your tips plus the cash wage your employer pays you do not add up to the full minimum wage in a given workweek, your Delaware employer is required to pay you the shortfall. This rule applies week by week—your employer cannot average your earnings over a longer period. The employer claiming a tip credit must be able to demonstrate, for each workweek, that you received at least the full minimum wage when its direct cash wages and the tip credit are combined. In Delaware in 2019, the minimum cash wage was $2.23 per hour. If that cash wage plus your tips for a particular week fell below the minimum hourly wage, the employer had to make up the difference before you were paid for that week. This protection ensures tipped workers always receive at least the full minimum wage regardless of how busy or slow a week may be.
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
Before a Delaware employer can pay you the lower tipped cash wage and count your tips toward the minimum wage, it must inform you of the tip credit rules. The employer must tell you the amount of the direct cash wage it is paying you, the additional amount it claims as a tip credit, that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually received, that you keep all your tips except for valid tip pooling with other customarily-tipped workers, and that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been told all of this. In Delaware in 2019, the minimum cash wage was $2.23 per hour, so your employer had to disclose how much cash wage it was paying and how much tip credit it was claiming on top of that. The notice can be given orally or in writing, but if the employer fails to give it, it loses the right to take any tip credit at all and must pay you the full minimum wage from its own funds.
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.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
When Delaware law offers tipped employees stronger protections than the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must follow whichever rule benefits workers more. This means that if Delaware requires a higher minimum cash wage for tipped workers than the federal floor, or places stricter limits on how employers can use tip credits, the employer must comply with Delaware's standard. In 2019, Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped employees was $2.23 per hour. Employers operating in Delaware cannot hide behind the federal minimum—whichever law, state or federal, sets the higher cash wage or the more protective tip-credit rule is the one that applies to you. This principle applies across all wage and hour obligations, including overtime, tip pooling rules, and notice requirements, ensuring Delaware workers receive the greatest level of protection available under either body of law.
When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees.
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, the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits employers - including managers and supervisors - from keeping any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. An employer may not require an employee to give their tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even where a tipped employee receives at least the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25) per hour in wages directly from the employer and the employer takes no tip credit. Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.23 per hour; because this is below the full minimum wage, employers take a tip credit and rely on tips to make up the difference. Regardless, no manager, supervisor, or owner may take any share of the tips you earn. This protection applies to all tips you receive - whether left on a table, added to a credit card receipt, or collected in a tip pool - and it is unconditional.
Regardless of whether an employer takes a tip credit, the FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. An employer may not require an employee to give their tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even where a tipped employee receives at least the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25) per hour in wages directly from the employer and the employer takes no tip credit.
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 takes a tip credit against the minimum wage, any mandatory tip pool must be 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. This is sometimes known as a "traditional" tip pool. An employer that implements a traditional tip pool must notify tipped employees of any required tip pool contribution amount, may only take a tip credit for tips each tipped employee ultimately receives, and may not retain any of the employees' tips for any other purpose. An employer may not receive tips from such a tip pool and may not allow managers and supervisors to receive tips from the pool. Because Delaware's minimum cash wage is $2.23 per hour - well below the full minimum wage - Delaware employers take a tip credit and are subject to these traditional tip-pool rules.
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. This is sometimes known as a “traditional” tip pool. An employer that implements a traditional tip pool must notify tipped employees of any required tip pool contribution amount, may only take a tip credit for tips each tipped employee ultimately receives, and may not retain any of the employees’ tips for any other purpose. An employer may not receive tips from such a tip pool and may not allow managers and supervisors to receive tips from the pool.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Delaware, when a worker holds two distinct positions with the same employer - for example, a hotel maintenance person who also works shifts as a server - they are a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. The worker is employed in two occupations, and no tip credit can be taken for their hours of employment in their occupation as a maintenance person. In practice, this means the employer must pay at least the full minimum wage for every hour worked in the non-tipped job. Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped work is $2.23 per hour; for the non-tipped portion of the worker's duties, the employer cannot use that lower cash wage and cannot count tips toward meeting the minimum wage. The employee must customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for the server role for this split treatment to apply.
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. The worker is employed in two occupations, and no tip credit can be taken for their hours of employment in their occupation as a maintenance person.
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