2019 Federal Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2019 Federal Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2019-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Compared with 2018
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2018.
| Item | 2018 | 2019 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. 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 beside it.
What changed this year, and why
The Wage and Hour Division's table of minimum wages for tipped employees for 2019, last revised on January 1, 2019, gives $2.13 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. 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 was the federal tipped minimum cash wage in 2019?
- $2.13 per hour. The Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees for 2019, last revised on January 1, 2019, gives that amount as the minimum cash wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act, with the remainder of the federal minimum wage able to be met by tips up to the maximum tip credit the same row states.
- What if tips did not bring the employee up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer paid 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 fell short of the applicable minimum wage was owed the shortfall in wages.
- Where does the figure on this page come from?
- From the Wage and Hour Division's own archived table Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees for 2019, last revised on January 1, 2019. The federal row it was read from is quoted on this page, and the snapshot it was verified against is the one captured for this record.
Who counts as a tipped employee
Under federal law, you count as a tipped employee only if you work in an occupation where you customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. The $30 threshold is measured by the tips you actually receive from customers — tips that never reach you do not count toward it. If you meet this test, your employer may use the tip credit rules described elsewhere on this page to pay you a cash wage below the full federal minimum wage. If you do not meet the $30-a-month tip test, your employer must pay you the full federal minimum wage for every hour you work and cannot take a tip credit against that obligation. The $30 figure is the federal standard; some states set different thresholds or define tipped employees differently, in which case the rule most protective of you applies.
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
Federal law allows an employer to pay you a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour and count a portion of the tips you receive as making up the rest of the minimum wage. That counted portion is called the tip credit—it is the difference between the direct cash wage your employer pays you and the full federal minimum wage. For 2019 the federal minimum wage was $7.25 per hour, so the tip credit bridges the gap between $2.13 and $7.25. In practice, your employer must pay you at least $2.13 in cash each hour, and as long as your cash wage plus your tips together reach at least $7.25 per hour for every workweek, the tip credit is satisfied. Only tips you actually received count toward meeting that total.
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
Under federal law, your employer must ensure that your total hourly earnings—cash wages plus tips—reach at least the full federal minimum wage for every workweek. If your tips combined with the employer's direct wages do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour in any workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This is a per-workweek test, not a per-paycheck one, so each seven-day period is evaluated separately. For example, if your cash wage is $2.13 per hour and your tips in a given workweek average less than what is needed to bring your hourly total to $7.25, the employer owes you the shortfall. The employer cannot average a bad week against a good week to avoid this obligation.
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
Under federal law, an employer must tell you certain things before it can count your tips toward the minimum wage. The notice must include the cash wage the employer is paying you (which must be at least $2.13 per hour), the amount the employer is claiming as a tip credit, and a statement that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive. You must also be told that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been informed of these provisions. The employer may give this notice orally or in writing, but it must happen before the employer takes the credit. If the employer fails to provide the required information, it cannot use the tip credit at all and must pay you the full minimum wage for every hour you work.
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
Federal law sets a floor for tipped employees, but many states have their own rules that are more generous. When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. For a Federal tipped worker, that means if your state requires a higher cash wage than $2.13 per hour, or if it prohibits the tip credit altogether, the employer must follow whichever rule gives you more money or better protection. The employer cannot pick the more favorable rule for itself. You are entitled to the benefit of the rule that puts more wages in your pocket, whether that comes from federal or state 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
Under federal law, your tips belong to you. The FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. This rule applies no matter what your total wages are and regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit. Your employer, your manager, and your supervisor may not require you to hand over your tips, and they may not use a tip pool as a way to funnel your tips to themselves. Even if the employer pays you the full minimum wage in cash and takes no tip credit, the prohibition still applies—your tips are yours. The rule is absolute: the employer cannot keep any share of what customers leave for you.
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
Under federal law, when your employer takes a tip credit, it can require you to contribute your tips to a pool, but only if that pool is limited to workers who customarily and regularly receive tips. That means the pool can include people like waiters, bellhops, counter staff who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders—but not dishwashers, cooks, or other back-of-house employees who do not typically receive tips. The employer must also tell you how much you are required to contribute. After the pool is collected, it must be distributed among the participating tipped employees; the employer may not keep any of it. If the employer does not take a tip credit, different rules apply and it may include a broader set of employees in the pool.
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
Under federal law, when you work two different jobs for the same employer—one where you receive tips and one where you do not—your employer can only treat you as a tipped employee for the hours you spend in the tip-producing occupation. For example, if you work as a maintenance person in a hotel and also serve as a server, and you customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips from your server work, you are a tipped employee only during those server hours. For your maintenance hours, no tip credit may be taken and the employer must pay you at least the full minimum wage. This is different from a server who spends part of the same shift doing related duties like cleaning tables or making coffee; those tasks are part of the tipped occupation and the tip credit can still 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.
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
FEDERAL: Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) $7.25 $5.12 $2.13 More than $30
Other years
Every Federal Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state