2016 Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2016 Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2016-01-01Source: Individuals FAQs - Fair Labor Standards Act (Georgia Department of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
Who it applies to
Employers in Georgia who have tipped employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage that employers must pay tipped employees is $2.13 per hour for 2016, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor under the Fair Labor Standards Act and reflected on the Georgia Department of Labor website.
Common questions
- What happens if a tipped employee's cash wage plus tips does not reach the federal minimum wage?
- An employer must pay a tipped employee a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. However, if that cash wage plus the tips received does not equal at least the federal minimum wage for each hour worked, the employer must make up the difference.
Who counts as a tipped employee
Under federal law, which applies in Georgia unless the state has a stricter rule, a worker counts as a tipped employee if they work in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This is the threshold that determines whether the special tip-credit rules can apply to that worker in Georgia. Only tips the employee actually receives are counted toward this test and toward the tip credit. If a Georgia worker’s tips fall below that $30-a-month floor, or if their occupation is not one where tips are customarily and regularly received, the employer cannot treat them as a tipped employee and must pay at least the full minimum wage without using a 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 Georgia, your employer can pay you a cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour as a tipped employee. The employer then takes a tip credit equal to the difference between that direct cash wage and the federal minimum wage. This means the employer counts a portion of your tips toward its minimum-wage obligation. The tip credit is the gap between the cash wage your employer pays you directly and the full minimum wage. The employer cannot claim a tip credit larger than that gap. You must still receive enough tips, combined with the cash wage, to reach at least the full minimum wage for every workweek. Only tips you actually receive count toward this calculation. If Georgia sets a higher cash wage than the federal amount, the higher state requirement would apply instead, because employers must follow whichever rule is most protective to you.
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 Georgia, if your tips plus your employer's direct cash wages fall short of the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in any workweek, your employer must pay you the difference out of its own pocket. This rule applies workweek by workweek, so even if you earn plenty of tips in some weeks, a bad week still requires your employer to top up your pay to at least $7.25 per hour. The employer cannot average across weeks or rely on slow weeks being balanced by busy ones. This protection ensures that the risk of low tips falls on the employer, not on you. The tip credit only works if your combined cash wage and tips actually reach the minimum wage; otherwise, the employer owes you the shortfall.
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 Georgia, before your employer can take a tip credit against its minimum wage obligation, it must inform you of five specific pieces of information. This notice must be given before the tip credit is applied, not after the fact. The employer must tell you the amount of the direct cash wage it is paying you, which must be at least $2.13 per hour; the additional amount it is claiming as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12; that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive; that you get to keep all your tips except for valid tip pooling with other traditionally tipped employees; and that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been told all of this. The notice can be oral or written. If your employer fails to give you this information, it cannot claim the tip credit at all and must pay you the full minimum wage.
Notice to Tipped Employees: 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 Georgia, when federal and state law set different rules for tipped employees, your employer must follow whichever standard is more protective to you. For example, if Georgia requires employers to pay a higher direct cash wage than the federal $2.13 per hour, or if it prohibits employers from taking a tip credit altogether, the employer must comply with the state rule instead of the federal one. This principle means you are entitled to the better of the two protections. An employer cannot choose the rule that costs it less or that results in lower pay for you. The U.S. Department of Labor maintains links to state labor departments where you can find Georgia's specific requirements and compare them to the federal baseline.
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)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Georgia, if your employer takes a tip credit and pays you the lower cash wage, it can only require you to share tips in a pool with other employees who work in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is called a traditional tip pool. Eligible participants typically include waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. The employer cannot force you to pool tips with employees who do not customarily receive tips, such as cooks or dishwashers, unless the employer pays everyone the full minimum wage directly without using a tip credit. In addition, the employer itself may not take any portion of the pooled tips, and managers and supervisors are also excluded from participating. If the employer violates these rules, it risks losing the right to take the tip credit altogether.
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 Georgia, if you work two distinct jobs for the same employer and only one of them is a tipped occupation, you are considered a tipped employee only for the hours you spend in the tipped job. For example, if you work as a hotel maintenance person and also work as a server, and you customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for your server work, the employer can take a tip credit for your server hours but not for your maintenance hours. For the non-tipped job, the employer must pay you at least the full minimum wage without using a tip credit. The employer cannot average your hours across both jobs or apply the tip credit to time spent in the non-tipped occupation. This rule prevents employers from using a low tipped wage for work that has nothing to do with receiving tips.
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.
Individuals FAQs - Fair Labor Standards Act (Georgia Department of Labor)
- Minimum cash wage
An employer of a tipped employee is only required to pay $2.13 an hour in direct wages
Other years
Every Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state