2020 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2020 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.23.
Effective 2020-01-01Source: Delaware Department of Labor Labor Law Poster (Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2019
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2019.
| Item | 2019 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.23 | $2.23 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Delaware
What changed this year, and why
Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped employees was $2.23 per hour in 2020.
Common questions
- What was the tipped minimum wage in Delaware in 2020?
- The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Delaware in 2020 was $2.23 per hour. Employers must be able to prove that tipped employees received enough tips to bring their total earnings to at least the full state minimum wage.
- What must an employer prove when paying the tipped minimum cash wage?
- The employer must be able to prove that the employee received enough tips to reach the full state minimum wage. If tips fall short, the employer is responsible for making up the difference.
Who counts as a tipped employee
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a tipped employee is someone whose occupation regularly brings in tips from customers. 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. This threshold is low: most servers, bartenders, hotel bellhops, valets, and delivery drivers in Delaware who rely on customer gratuities will clear $30 per month easily. Once a worker meets this definition, their employer is allowed to use the federal tip credit framework, which permits the employer to pay a reduced cash wage and count the worker's tips toward meeting the minimum wage. Workers in Delaware who occasionally receive a tip but work primarily in a non-tipped role—such as a retail cashier who sometimes gets a dollar in the jar—may or may not meet this $30 test, depending on the regularity of those tips. The key word is customarily: the tips must be a normal, expected feature of the job, not a rare occurrence.
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
Under federal law, the lowest cash wage an employer can pay a tipped employee is $2.13 per hour, but Delaware requires employers to pay at least $2.23 per hour as the direct cash wage to tipped workers. The FLSA allows an employer to take a tip credit equal to the difference between the direct wage paid and the full federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Because Delaware's $2.23 cash wage is higher than the federal $2.13, employers in Delaware must pay at least $2.23 per hour in cash before counting any tips toward the minimum wage. The tip credit itself is then the difference between $2.23 and the full minimum wage, not the larger federal gap. Delaware tipped workers are entitled to this higher cash floor regardless of what federal law permits; the employer cannot fall back on the lower federal cash wage. Any worker in Delaware who is paid less than $2.23 per hour in direct wages by a tip-credit employer should recognize that their employer is not following the applicable state standard.
An employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour under the FLSA. 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
Employers who take a tip credit carry an ongoing obligation: they must verify every week that the worker's combined cash wages and tips add up to at least the federal minimum wage. 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. In Delaware, this means the employer's duty is calculated weekly and cannot be deferred or averaged over a longer period. A bartender in Wilmington who has a slow week and earns very little in tips is still owed at least the minimum wage for every hour worked that week. The employer, not the employee, bears the risk of a bad week. The employer must add the cash wage paid and the total tips received, and if the sum per hour falls below the minimum, the employer must increase the cash wage payment to close the gap. This rule ensures that taking a tip credit never results in a worker earning less than the minimum wage.
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
An employer cannot claim a tip credit unless it has first informed the worker of the specific terms of the credit arrangement. Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA. The required disclosures include the amount of cash wage being paid, the size of the tip credit the employer is claiming, notice that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips actually received, confirmation that the employee keeps all their tips except valid tip pool contributions, and notice that the credit is only valid if the worker has been told all of these things. Delaware employers must provide this information before they begin paying the reduced cash wage. If an employer in Delaware fails to give this notice—or gives it only after the fact—it cannot take the tip credit at all and owes the full minimum wage for all hours worked during the period of non-compliance. Workers who suspect their employer never provided these disclosures should keep their own records of hours worked and tips received.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA:
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. This means Delaware employers cannot simply follow the more permissive federal rules if Delaware law sets a higher bar. For tipped employees, the practical result is that if Delaware requires a higher minimum cash wage than the federal floor, or places additional restrictions on tip credits, the employer must follow the Delaware standard. This rule operates automatically: employers do not get to pick which law to follow, and they cannot average federal and state requirements. A Delaware restaurant owner, hotel, or bar must know the state's specific wage rules for tipped workers and apply them, even if the federal rules would allow a lower cash wage or a larger tip credit. Workers in Delaware benefit from this principle because it ensures they receive whichever minimum wage or tip credit rule puts more money in their pocket, rather than the weaker of the two.
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, your employer, your manager, and your supervisor are barred from taking any share of the tips you earn, no matter how your pay is structured. Under the federal tip-credit rules that Delaware employers follow, tips belong to the employee who received them. The employer cannot require you to hand your tips over to the business, to a supervisor, or to a manager, even if the employer pays you the full minimum wage and takes no tip credit at all. This protection covers tips you keep directly and tips that flow through a tip pool: the employer may not siphon any portion of the pool for itself or for managers and supervisors. If you work in a Delaware restaurant, hotel, or other tipped occupation, you can be confident that every dollar of tip income stays with the employees who earned it, not with the people who run the business.
Employers, Including Managers and Supervisors, May Not “Keep” Tips: 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.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Delaware, if your employer takes a tip credit against the minimum cash wage of $2.23 per hour, any tip pool you are required to join can only include employees who customarily and regularly receive tips in their occupations. This means the pool is limited to workers such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. Your employer cannot require you to share your tips with cooks, dishwashers, or other employees who do not typically receive tips from customers. This type of arrangement is sometimes called a "traditional" tip pool, and your employer must notify you of the required contribution amount and may only take a tip credit for the tips you ultimately receive after the pool 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, if you work two different jobs for the same employer, you are considered a tipped employee only for the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. For example, if you work as a maintenance person at a hotel and also work as a server, you are a tipped employee only with respect to your work as a server, provided you receive at least $30 a month in tips for that server work. Your employer cannot take a tip credit for the hours you work as a maintenance person. The two occupations are treated separately, and the tip credit rules apply only to the tipped occupation, not to your other job duties.
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
Other years
Every Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state