2023 Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2023 Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: Individuals FAQs - Fair Labor Standards Act (Georgia Department of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
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
Georgia employers who have tipped employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage that Georgia employers must pay tipped employees remained at $2.13 per hour in 2023, consistent with the federal tipped minimum wage under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Georgia in 2023?
- Employers must pay tipped employees at least $2.13 per hour in direct wages. If that amount plus tips does not equal the federal minimum wage for each hour worked, the employer must make up the difference.
- Who must pay the tipped minimum wage?
- Any Georgia employer with employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act who receive tips.
Who counts as a tipped employee
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a tipped employee in Georgia is someone engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This $30 threshold is the federal standard used to determine whether an employer may apply the special tipped-employee rules, including the lower cash wage and the tip credit. Only tips the employee actually receives count toward this test. If a worker in Georgia occasionally gets a tip but does not customarily and regularly earn more than $30 in tips per month, the employer cannot treat them as a tipped employee and must pay the regular minimum wage. The definition focuses on the occupation itself - it is the kind of work the employee does, not just whether tips happen to arrive in any given week. Employers in Georgia must look at whether the role they have hired the worker into is one in which tips are a regular and customary part of the pay.
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
Georgia employers subject to the FLSA may pay a tipped employee a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour instead of the full federal minimum wage. The employer then claims a tip credit equal to the difference between that $2.13 direct wage and the federal minimum wage. The employer must ensure that the cash wage it pays directly plus the tip credit together reach at least the full minimum wage for every hour worked. Only tips the employee actually receives count when applying the credit. In Georgia, the minimum cash wage an employer must hand to a tipped worker is $2.13 per hour under federal law. If the employer does not take a tip credit, it can instead pay the full minimum wage and the tipped-employee rules do not apply.
An employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour under the FLSA. 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, an employer that claims a tip credit must be able to show that each tipped employee receives at least the full federal minimum wage when direct cash wages and the tip credit amount are combined, measured each workweek. If a tipped worker's tips plus the employer's $2.13-per-hour cash wage do not add up to the full minimum hourly wage in a given workweek, the employer must make up the difference out of its own pocket. This means the employer cannot shift the risk of slow business onto the employee: the worker is guaranteed the full minimum wage regardless of how much they earn in tips. The employer calculates the total for each workweek, not by averaging across weeks.
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 taking a tip credit in Georgia, an employer must inform the tipped employee of specific information required by the FLSA. Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit: the amount of the direct cash wage the employer is paying (which must be at least $2.13 per hour), the additional amount the employer claims as a tip credit, the fact that the credit cannot exceed the tips the employee actually receives, the fact 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 told all of these provisions. The notice may be given orally or in writing. If the employer fails to give this information, it loses the right to take the tip credit entirely and owes the full minimum wage. This ensures Georgia tipped workers understand what their employer is paying and how the credit works before it takes effect.
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
When a Georgia employer is subject to both the federal FLSA and a state labor law, the employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. If Georgia's law provides a higher cash wage than the federal $2.13 per hour, or if Georgia prohibits the taking of a tip credit altogether, the employer must follow whichever rule leaves the worker better off. The federal rule sets a floor, not a ceiling, so a tipped employee in Georgia may be entitled to more favorable treatment under state law even when the federal minimum cash wage of $2.13 per hour would otherwise apply. Employers operating in the state should check both Georgia law and the FLSA and apply whichever standard gives the employee the greater protection.
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
Regardless of whether a Georgia 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. An employer in Georgia may not require a tipped worker to hand over their tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even if the employer pays the full federal minimum wage directly and takes no tip credit at all. This rule applies to managers and supervisors as well: they may not receive any share of tips collected from customers. The purpose is to ensure that tips belong to the employees who earn them from customers, and no one above them in the workplace can intercept those earnings.
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 Georgia, when an employer takes a tip credit, it can require tipped employees to contribute to a tip pool that is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This is known as a "traditional" tip pool and typically includes roles such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. The employer may not include employees who do not customarily receive tips, such as cooks or dishwashers, in that pool. The employer must also notify tipped employees of any required contribution amount and may only claim a tip credit for the tips each tipped employee ultimately retains after the pool is distributed. The employer itself may not retain any of the pooled tips.
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, when an employee works two distinct jobs for the same employer - for example, a hotel maintenance worker who also serves as a server - the employee is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. If they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for their serving work, the employer may take a tip credit for those hours. However, the employer is employed in two occupations, and no tip credit can be taken for their hours of employment in their occupation as a maintenance person. For the non-tipped hours, the employer must pay the full minimum wage. The key distinction is whether the employee is performing two genuinely different jobs versus spending time on related duties within a single tipped occupation, such as a server who also cleans tables or makes coffee.
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. The worker is employed in two occupations, and no tip credit can be taken for their hours of employment in their occupation as a maintenance person.
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, if that amount plus the tips received equals at least the federal minimum wage for each hour worked.
Other years
Every Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state