2023 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2023 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.23.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: Delaware Department of Labor Labor Law Poster (Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2022
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2022.
| Item | 2022 | 2023 | 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
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Delaware is $2.23 per hour.
Common questions
- What if the employee's tips do not bring total pay up to the full minimum wage?
- Yes. Employers must be able to prove that the employee received enough tips to reach the full regular minimum wage rate. If tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference.
- Is Delaware's tipped cash wage higher than the federal rate?
- Delaware's tipped cash wage is higher than the federal tipped cash wage. Employers in Delaware must pay the state rate, which is the higher of the two.
Who counts as a tipped employee
Under federal law as described by the Department of Labor, a person working in Delaware counts as a tipped employee when they are engaged in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold applies regardless of whether the employer pays the full minimum wage or uses a tip credit. Only the tips the employee actually receives matter when deciding whether they meet this definition; tips that are reported but not collected do not count toward it. If a Delaware worker's tips in a given month stay below this amount, or if their tips are sporadic rather than customary and regular, they are not considered tipped employees under the FLSA for that occupation, and different wage rules apply to them.
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
Delaware law sets a minimum cash wage of $2.23 per hour for tipped employees. A tip credit is the difference between that direct cash wage the employer pays and the full minimum wage the employee is owed. Under this system, the employer counts part of the employee's tips toward meeting the minimum wage obligation, so the worker's guaranteed paycheck from the employer alone can be lower than the full minimum wage. The employer must still be able to show that the employee's cash wage plus their tips together equal at least the full minimum wage for every workweek. If a Delaware tipped worker's cash wage and tips combined fall short of the minimum wage in any workweek, the employer is required to pay the difference out of pocket so the worker receives at least the full minimum hourly rate.
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
Delaware employers who use a tip credit must verify each workweek that the employee's cash wage plus the tips received add up to at least the full minimum hourly wage. In a slow week, a busy week, or any week where customer spending is low, the tips may not be enough to close the gap between the reduced cash wage and the full minimum wage. When that happens, the employer must make up the difference. The worker cannot be left earning less than the full minimum wage for any workweek, even if business is poor or tips are sparse. This protection applies every single workweek, so employers cannot average a bad week against a good one; each week stands on its own and the employer is responsible for covering any shortfall.
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
Delaware employers are required to give tipped employees specific written information before they take a tip credit against the worker's wages. This notice must be provided in advance so the employee knows, before accepting the reduced cash wage, that their employer is counting their tips toward the minimum wage obligation. The notice explains what the tip credit is, how much cash wage the employee will receive directly, and the employee's right to keep all tips they receive (except for valid tip pooling arrangements). Without this advance notice, the employer cannot legally claim the tip credit and may be required to pay the full minimum wage directly without relying on the employee's tips to make up the gap. Delaware workers who have not received this notice should be aware that their employer may not be complying with federal requirements.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking 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
Delaware workers are protected by whichever wage rule gives them more — the federal rule or the state rule. If Delaware's minimum cash wage, tip credit calculation, or tip protection rules are more favorable to the employee than the federal standards, the employer must follow the Delaware standard. Similarly, if the federal rule provides greater protection than Delaware law, the federal rule applies. The employer cannot pick and choose whichever system pays less; the standard most protective to the employee controls. For Delaware tipped employees, this means they are entitled to the higher of the federal or state cash wage, the more generous tip retention rights, and whichever notice or recordkeeping requirement is stricter. The Department of Labor enforces this floor to ensure workers always receive the strongest protection available from either level of government.
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
Delaware employers are prohibited from keeping any portion of their employees' tips, regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit or pays the full minimum wage directly. This rule applies to employers, managers, and supervisors — none of them may retain tips that belong to the worker. An employer cannot require a Delaware employee to hand over their tips to the business, to a supervisor, or to a manager, even if the worker is receiving at least the full minimum wage in direct wages from the employer. Tips are the property of the employee who receives them from customers, and no part of those tips can be redirected to the business or its management. This protection ensures that Delaware tipped workers keep what customers give them.
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
Delaware employers may require tipped employees to participate in a tip pool, but the pool is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This means only workers whose job is genuinely a tipped occupation — such as servers, bussers, bartenders, and hosts who receive tips as part of their normal duties — can be required to share in the pool. Employers cannot force tipped workers to share their tips with cooks, dishwashers, janitors, or other back-of-house staff who do not customarily receive tips from customers, unless those workers are paid the full minimum wage directly by the employer. The pool must also be structured so that tips are fully distributed to eligible participants by the regular payday. Delaware workers should confirm that any tip pool they are required to join includes only traditionally tipped positions.
limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Doing two jobs for one employer
Delaware workers who hold two separate jobs for the same employer — for example, a hotel maintenance worker who also serves as a server — are treated as tipped employees only during the hours they spend in the tipped occupation. The employer cannot take a tip credit for hours worked in the non-tipped occupation, such as maintenance, even if the employee earned substantial tips during their server shift the same day. The two jobs must be tracked separately for wage purposes: all hours in the non-tipped role must be paid at the full minimum wage without any tip credit offset. Delaware workers with dual roles should verify that their employer is recording hours in each occupation separately and paying the full minimum wage for all non-tipped time, rather than blending the two jobs together and applying a reduced wage across the board.
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