2024 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2024 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.23.
Effective 2024-01-01Source: Delaware Department of Labor Labor Law Poster (Delaware Department of Labor, Division of Industrial Affairs)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2023
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2023.
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.23 | $2.23 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employees who receive tips in the state of Delaware
What changed this year, and why
Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.23 per hour. Employers must be able to prove that the employee received the balance of the full minimum rate in tips. This rate is greater than the federal cash wage for tipped employees, and employers must pay Delaware's higher rate.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Delaware?
- The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Delaware is $2.23 per hour. The employer must be able to prove that the employee received the balance of the full minimum rate in tips.
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
Under federal law, a person counts as a tipped employee in Delaware if they work in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This definition comes from the Fair Labor Standards Act and determines whether an employer may apply the special tip-credit rules. Only the tips the worker actually receives are counted toward that $30 threshold and toward the tip credit. If tips fall below that amount, or if the worker is in a job where tips are not customary and regular, the worker is not treated as a tipped employee for FLSA purposes and must be paid at least the full applicable minimum wage without any tip credit.
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, the FLSA allows an employer to pay a tipped worker a reduced cash wage and claim a tip credit equal to the difference between that cash wage and the full minimum wage. The tip credit is the portion of the minimum wage obligation that the employer offsets using the employee's tips. Delaware's required minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.23 per hour, which is higher than the federal floor. The employer must still ensure that the employee's tips plus the cash wage reach at least the full minimum wage each workweek. Only tips actually received by the employee count toward satisfying the tip credit. If the combined total falls short in any workweek, the employer must make up the difference.
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
In Delaware, if a tipped employee's tips combined with the employer's direct cash wages do not equal the full minimum hourly wage in a given workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This means the employer cannot rely solely on the lower cash wage of $2.23 per hour and assume tips will cover the rest. Each workweek is evaluated separately, so a slow week with fewer tips does not excuse the shortfall. The employer must track weekly earnings and add whatever is needed so that the employee receives at least the full minimum wage for every hour worked that week. This protection applies regardless of how much the employee expects to earn in tips.
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, before an employer can take a tip credit, it must provide the tipped employee with specific information. The employer must tell the employee the amount of the cash wage being paid, the additional amount claimed as a tip credit, that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips actually received, that all tips are retained by the employee except for a valid tip pool, and that the tip credit will not apply unless the employee has been informed of these provisions. The notice may be given orally or in writing. An employer that fails to give this notice loses the right to take the tip credit entirely, meaning it owes the full minimum wage regardless of tips earned. In Delaware, the minimum cash wage that must be disclosed is $2.23 per hour.
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
In Delaware, when state law differs from the federal FLSA, the employer must follow whichever standard is most protective to the employee. Delaware's minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.23 per hour, which is higher than the federal floor. This means Delaware employers must pay at least $2.23 per hour in cash wages to tipped workers, even though the federal rule permits a lower amount. If Delaware law provides stronger protections in other areas, such as restrictions on tip credits or tip pooling, those protections also apply. The rule ensures that workers in Delaware always benefit from the more favorable standard, whether it comes from state or federal 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 FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit. An employer may not require an employee to hand over tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager. Even if the employer pays the full minimum wage directly and takes no tip credit, it still cannot take or share in the employee's tips. In Delaware, tipped workers keep all of their tips except for contributions to a valid tip pool limited to traditionally tipped employees. Managers, supervisors, and business owners with a significant equity stake are barred from participating in tip pools or receiving any share of other employees' 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, when an employer takes a tip credit, it can require tipped employees to contribute to a tip pool, but only one that is limited to employees in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. Examples include waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. The employer must notify tipped employees of any required tip pool contribution amount. The employer may not take any tips from the pool for itself, and managers and supervisors may not participate. While there is no federal limit on the percentage or amount each employee must contribute to a valid pool, the pool's membership is strictly limited to traditionally tipped occupations. Non-tipped workers such as dishwashers and cooks cannot be included in a traditional tip pool unless the employer pays the full minimum wage in cash.
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, when an employee works two distinct jobs for the same employer, the employee is considered a tipped employee only with respect to the job where they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips. For the other job, no tip credit can be taken, and the employer must pay the full minimum wage for those hours. For example, a hotel maintenance worker who also works as a server can only have the tip credit applied to hours worked as a server. The employer must separately track hours in each occupation. This rule is distinguishable from a server who spends part of their time on related duties like cleaning tables, toasting bread, or making coffee, which are considered part of the tipped occupation itself and do not trigger the dual-job rules.
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