2026 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2026 Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.23.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Delaware. The cash wage is the part of the minimum wage the employer pays directly. The rest may be met by the employee's tips, up to the maximum tip credit the same row of the table states, and the table sets out separately how much an employee must receive in tips to count as a tipped employee at all.
What changed this year, and why
The Wage and Hour Division's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, in the version last revised July 1, 2026, gives $2.23 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Delaware. The table carries only its own revision date and never dates the rate, so this page reports the figure as in force as of that revision rather than claiming an effective date no document states.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Delaware in 2026?
- $2.23 per hour in cash wages. That is what the Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, last revised July 1, 2026, gives as the minimum cash wage for a tipped employee in Delaware. Tips make up the remainder of the applicable minimum wage, up to the maximum tip credit stated in the same row.
- What if tips do not bring the employee up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer pays the difference. A tip credit is a credit against the minimum wage the employer already owes, not a lower wage in its own right, so an employee whose cash wage and tips together fall short of the applicable minimum wage is owed the shortfall in wages.
- Where does the figure on this page come from?
- From Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, the table the Wage and Hour Division publishes by state, in the version last revised July 1, 2026. The row it was read from is quoted on this page, and the snapshot it was verified against is the one captured for this record.
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
In Delaware, you are considered a tipped employee under federal law if you work in an occupation where you customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This definition determines whether your employer can apply special wage rules, including paying you a lower cash wage and taking a tip credit toward its minimum wage obligations. Only the tips you actually receive count toward this threshold—projected or estimated tips do not qualify. If you meet this definition, your employer may be subject to different requirements regarding how much they must pay you directly and how they handle your tips. Understanding whether you qualify as a tipped employee is the first step in knowing what wage protections apply to you in your specific occupation.
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 tip credit is the amount an employer can subtract from the federal minimum wage it owes a tipped worker, based on tips the employee actually receives. The employer must pay a cash wage directly to the tipped employee, and the tip credit equals the difference between that cash wage and the full federal minimum wage. For 2026 in Delaware, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $2.23 per hour. The employer must be able to demonstrate, each workweek, that the employee's cash wages plus tips together equal at least the full minimum wage. Only tips the employee actually received can be counted in this calculation. This means Delaware employers taking the tip credit cannot rely on projected or estimated tips—they must show the employee actually received enough to cover the gap between the cash wage paid and the full minimum wage for every single workweek.
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, even when an employer pays the tipped minimum cash wage and claims a tip credit, the employer must guarantee that the employee receives at least the full federal minimum wage in every workweek. This is calculated by combining the direct cash wages paid by the employer with the tips actually received by the employee during that workweek. If the combined total falls short of the full minimum wage for any workweek, the employer must make up the difference out of its own funds. This protection applies each and every workweek, so a slow week with few tips still requires the employer to bring the employee's earnings up to the required minimum. Delaware workers in tipped occupations can therefore rely on a floor: no matter how many or how few tips they receive in a given week, their total compensation from their employer and their customers together must reach at least the full minimum hourly 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
In Delaware, before an employer can take a tip credit against a tipped employee's wages, it must first provide that employee with specific information about how the tip credit works. The notice must include: the amount of direct cash wage the employer is paying, the additional amount the employer is claiming as a tip credit, confirmation that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips actually received, assurance that all tips belong to the employee except for valid tip pooling arrangements, and a clear statement that the tip credit will not apply unless the employee receives this notice. This information can be provided orally or in writing. If a Delaware employer fails to give this required notice before taking the tip credit, the employer cannot claim the tip credit at all for that employee and must pay the full minimum wage from its own funds. This means Delaware workers who were never properly notified about the tip credit may be entitled to the full minimum wage, not just the reduced tipped minimum wage.
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
In Delaware, when state law and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act set different rules for tipped employees, the employer must follow whichever standard is more protective of the worker. For example, if Delaware requires a higher cash wage than federal law does, or if Delaware prohibits the use of a tip credit altogether while federal law permits it, the employer in Delaware must comply with the more employee-friendly rule. This means Delaware employers cannot simply default to the federal floor if state law provides stronger protections. Delaware tipped workers benefit from this rule because it ensures they receive the better of the two standards—whether that is a higher minimum cash wage, restrictions on tip pooling, or other wage protections that Delaware law may impose beyond what the federal FLSA requires.
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 strictly 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 or pays the full minimum wage. An employer in Delaware cannot require a tipped employee to hand over their tips to the business, to a supervisor, or to a manager. Even if the employer pays the employee at least the full federal minimum wage from its own funds and takes no tip credit at all, the employer still may not touch the employee's tips. This protection ensures that Delaware tipped workers retain ownership of the tips they receive from customers, and that managers, supervisors, and business owners cannot divert those tips into their own pockets or into the business's general revenue.
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 and pays the tipped minimum cash wage, any mandatory tip pool the employer requires must be limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is sometimes called a "traditional" tip pool. Eligible participants might include waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. A Delaware employer using this kind of tip pool cannot include back-of-house workers like dishwashers or cooks who do not customarily receive tips. The employer also must notify tipped employees of any required tip pool contribution, may only take a tip credit for tips each employee ultimately receives after the pool is distributed, and may not allow managers or supervisors to participate in the pool or retain any tips from it.
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 in two distinct occupations for the same employer—such as a hotel maintenance person who also works as a server—they are considered a tipped employee only with respect to the occupation where they customarily and regularly receive tips. The employer cannot take a tip credit for hours worked in the non-tipped occupation. For example, if a Delaware worker spends some of their week maintaining hotel property and other shifts serving customers, the employer can apply the tip credit only to the hours spent serving. For the maintenance hours, the employer must pay the full minimum wage with no tip credit offset. This rule prevents employers in Delaware from using a worker's tips in one role to subsidize sub-minimum wages in a completely different role. The two occupations must be genuinely distinct; incidental duties like a server cleaning tables or making coffee do not create a separate non-tipped occupation.
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.
Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)
- Minimum cash wage
Delaware $15.00 $12.77 $2.23 More than $30
Other years
- 2026
Every Delaware Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state