2024 Federal Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2024 Federal Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2024-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2023
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2023.
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | 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 2024, last revised on July 1, 2024, 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 2024?
- $2.13 per hour. The Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees for 2024, last revised on July 1, 2024, 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 2024, last revised on July 1, 2024. 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.
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 tipped employee is anyone who works in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold is what separates a tipped employee from any other worker under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Once an employee meets this definition, special rules apply: the employer may pay a cash wage below the full minimum wage and count a portion of the employee's tips toward the minimum-wage obligation. Only tips the employee actually receives count toward this determination. If you work in a position where tips are occasional or where the monthly total stays at or below that amount, you are not classified as a tipped employee and the full minimum wage rules apply to your pay instead of the special tipped-employee provisions.
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 lets an employer count a portion of the tips a worker receives toward the employer's minimum-wage obligation. The employer must still pay the worker a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. The tip credit is the gap between that cash wage and the full federal minimum wage. Only tips the employee actually receives count toward the credit. The employer can claim the credit only if the employee's tips plus the cash wage together reach at least the full minimum wage every workweek. This system means a tipped worker's pay comes from two sources: the cash wage the employer pays directly and the tips the employer is allowed to credit against its wage obligation. If the combined amount falls short, the employer must make up the shortfall in that 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
Even with the lower cash wage of $2.13, a tipped employee must end up with at least the full federal minimum wage in every single workweek when tips and the employer's direct wages are added together. If the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct (or cash) wages fall short of that minimum hourly wage in any workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This is not an annual average or a monthly calculation: the employer must check the math every workweek and pay any shortfall before the next payroll. The obligation sits entirely on the employer; if business is slow and tips are low, the employer still owes the worker enough to reach the minimum wage for those hours.
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 an employer can take a tip credit, federal law requires it to give the tipped employee specific information in advance. The employer must disclose the amount of the direct cash wage it is paying, the additional amount it claims as a tip credit, and must explain that the credit cannot exceed the tips the employee actually receives. The notice must also state that the employee keeps all tips except those contributed to a valid tip pool, and that the credit will not apply unless the employee has been informed of all of these provisions. Notice can be oral or written, but if the employer fails to provide it, it cannot take the tip credit at all. Without this advance notice, the full minimum wage is owed for every hour worked. This requirement ensures that tipped workers know the ground rules before their pay depends on customer gratuities.
Notice to Tipped Employees: 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
The federal rule sets a floor, not a ceiling. When a state's own wage law differs from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. For example, some states require a higher cash wage than the federal direct wage of $2.13 per hour, and some states prohibit employers from taking a tip credit at all. In those situations, the state rule controls for workers in that state. This means that a tipped employee's actual cash wage and tip-credit protections depend on which jurisdiction's law is more favorable. If you work in a state with stronger protections, those apply; if federal law is more favorable, federal law applies. The employer cannot pick the rule that pays less.
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 the Fair Labor Standards Act, no employer may keep any portion of a tipped employee's 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, manager, or supervisor may not require an employee to hand over tips, even if the employee receives at least the full federal minimum wage in wages directly from the employer and the employer claims no tip credit at all. Tips belong to the employee who receives them. Managers and supervisors are defined by their duties, and any worker who meets those definitions is treated the same as the employer for this prohibition. The rule ensures that tips flow to the workers who earn them, not to the business or its management.
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, which tip pool you can be required to join depends on how much your employer pays you in direct cash wages. If your employer takes a tip credit — paying you the federal cash wage of $2.13 per hour and counting your tips toward the full minimum wage — you can only be placed in a "traditional" tip pool. That pool 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. Back-of-house workers like cooks and dishwashers cannot be included in a traditional tip pool. Your employer must tell you the required contribution amount, may only take a tip credit against the tips you actually keep after the pool is distributed, and may not keep any of the pooled tips for itself. Managers and supervisors are barred from receiving tips from the pool regardless of which arrangement your employer uses.
Traditional Tip Pooling: 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
Under the federal rule, an employee who holds two separate jobs for the same employer is a tipped employee only with respect to the job in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. For example, if a hotel maintenance worker also works as a server and earns enough tips in the server role, the employer may take a tip credit only for the hours worked as a server. For the hours worked in the non-tipped occupation, no tip credit is allowed and the full minimum wage must be paid. This dual-job rule keeps employers from applying the lower cash wage to work that does not generate tips. It is distinct from situations where a tipped worker performs related duties that are part of the same occupation, such as a server who cleans tables or makes coffee between customers, which remain part of the 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
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