2023 Federal Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2023 Federal Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Compared with 2022
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2022.
| Item | 2022 | 2023 | 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 2023, last revised on September 30, 2023, 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 2023?
- $2.13 per hour. The Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees for 2023, last revised on September 30, 2023, 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 2023, last revised on September 30, 2023. 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, a tipped employee is someone who works in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This definition matters because it determines whether your employer can pay you the federal cash wage of $2.13 per hour and take a tip credit toward its minimum wage obligation. If you do not meet this threshold—for example, if you work in a role where tips are occasional or minimal—you are not considered a tipped employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and your employer must pay you the full federal minimum wage for all hours worked. The $30 monthly threshold applies to tips actually received from customers, not to service charges or other fees that the employer collects and then distributes.
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
The federal tip credit allows an employer to count a portion of the tips you receive toward its obligation to pay you the federal minimum wage. The employer must still pay you a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. The tip credit is the difference between that cash wage and the full federal minimum wage. Only tips you actually receive from customers count toward this calculation. Your employer must be able to show that in each workweek, your cash wages plus your tips together equal at least the full federal minimum wage. If they cannot, the employer must make up the shortfall. The tip credit is not automatic—your employer must inform you of the credit and its terms before it can use this provision.
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
Federal law requires that tipped employees receive at least the full federal minimum wage in each workweek when you add together the cash wage your employer pays you and the tips you receive. If your tips combined with your employer's direct cash wages fall short of the federal minimum hourly wage in any workweek, your employer must make up the difference. This is a workweek-by-workweek obligation, meaning your employer cannot average your earnings across multiple weeks to cover a shortfall. The employer bears the responsibility for ensuring you receive the full minimum wage, regardless of how much you earned in tips during that period. This protection ensures that slow business periods or low-tip shifts do not result in you 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
Before your employer can take a tip credit against your wages, federal law requires that your employer provide you with specific information about the credit. This notice must include the amount of the direct cash wage the employer is paying you (which must be at least $2.13 per hour), the additional amount the employer is claiming as a tip credit, and confirmation that the tip credit cannot exceed the actual tips you receive. The notice must also inform you that all tips you receive are yours to keep, except for valid tip pool contributions. Your employer can provide this notice orally or in writing, but it must be given before the employer takes the tip credit. If your employer fails to provide this required information, it cannot use the tip credit provision and must pay you the full federal minimum wage.
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 federal law and state law provide different protections for tipped employees, employers must follow whichever standard is more favorable to workers. Some states require employers to pay a higher cash wage than the federal minimum of $2.13 per hour, while others prohibit employers from taking a tip credit altogether, requiring them to pay the full state minimum wage directly to tipped employees. In Federal, you are entitled to whichever rule gives you greater protection—whether that comes from federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act or from your state's own wage laws. Employers cannot choose to follow only the federal rule if state law provides better wage protections for tipped workers.
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
Federal law 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 against your wages. Your employer may not require you to give your tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even if the employer pays you at least the full federal minimum wage in direct wages and takes no tip credit at all. Tips belong to the employees who receive them from customers. Managers and supervisors are specifically barred from participating in tip pools or retaining any part of the tips that tipped employees earn. This protection ensures that the money customers leave for service goes to the workers who provided that service, not to the business owners or their management staff.
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 Federal, if your employer takes a tip credit and pays you the lower cash wage of $2.13 per hour, any tip pool you are required to join must be limited to employees in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is known as a traditional tip pool. Eligible participants typically include waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. Non-traditional employees such as cooks, dishwashers, or janitors cannot be included in a traditional tip pool when the employer is taking a tip credit. Your employer must notify you of any required tip pool contribution amount and can only take a tip credit based on the tips you ultimately retain after the pool distribution. The employer may not retain any of the tips in the pool for itself.
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
When you work in two different jobs for the same employer—for example, as both a maintenance worker and a server—you are considered a tipped employee only with respect to the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. In Federal, this means your employer can take a tip credit and pay you the lower cash wage of $2.13 per hour only for the hours you work as a server. For the hours you work in your other occupation, such as maintenance, your employer must pay you the full federal minimum wage and cannot take any tip credit. The two jobs are treated separately for wage purposes. This rule prevents employers from applying the tip credit to all your hours just because you occasionally work in a tipped role. You must actually be performing tipped work for the lower wage to 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