2025 Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2025 Georgia Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: Individuals FAQs - Fair Labor Standards Act (Georgia Department of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2024
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2024.
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Georgia subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act
What changed this year, and why
The federal minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Georgia remains $2.13 per hour for 2025.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in Georgia for 2025?
- Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the minimum cash wage an employer must pay a tipped employee in Georgia is $2.13 per hour, provided that amount plus tips equals at least the federal minimum wage for every hour worked. If tips plus the cash wage fall short, the employer must make up the difference.
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 the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which applies in Georgia, 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 an employer can pay the lower cash wage of $2.13 per hour and take a tip credit. Only tips that the employee actually receives count toward this threshold and toward the tip credit. If you work in Georgia in a role where customers regularly tip you and those tips exceed $30 per month, your employer may classify you as a tipped employee and apply the federal tipped-employee rules, including the reduced minimum cash wage.
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, the federal tip credit allows employers to pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.13 per hour instead of the full minimum wage. The tip credit equals the difference between that cash wage and the federal minimum wage, which is $7.25 per hour. This means the maximum tip credit an employer can claim is $5.12 per hour. The employer must still ensure you receive at least the full minimum wage when combining your cash wages and tips each workweek. Only tips you actually receive count toward this calculation - tips that stay with the business or go to other workers cannot be included. If you work in Georgia as a tipped employee, your employer can use this tip credit system, but they must pay you at least the $2.13 minimum cash wage and make sure your total compensation reaches the federal minimum wage.
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. The maximum tip credit that an employer can currently claim is $5.12 per hour: ($7.25 - $2.13 direct (or cash) wage = $5.12).
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 combined with the $2.13 per hour cash wage your employer pays do not equal the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour in any workweek, your employer must make up the difference. This protection applies every single workweek - not averaged over a pay period or month. Your employer must track your total compensation each week and pay you additional wages if needed to reach the full minimum wage. This ensures that even in slow weeks when tips are low, you still receive at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked. The employer cannot use good weeks with high tips to offset bad weeks - each workweek stands alone for this calculation.
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 the federal tip credit, they must inform you of specific information about how the tip credit works. This notice must include the cash wage they are paying you (which must be at least $2.13 per hour), the tip credit amount they are claiming, that the tip credit cannot exceed your actual tips received, that you retain all your tips except for valid tip pooling arrangements, and that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been informed of these provisions. Your employer can give this notice orally or in writing. If they fail to provide the required information, they cannot take the tip credit at all and must pay you the full minimum wage. This notice requirement ensures you understand how your wages are being calculated under the tip credit system before it takes effect.
An employer that fails to provide the required information cannot take the section 3(m)(2)(A) tip credit.
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 state law differs from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must comply with whichever standard is most protective to employees. This means that if Georgia law provides better protections for tipped workers than federal law - such as requiring a higher cash wage or prohibiting the tip credit entirely - the employer must follow the state rule instead. Federal law sets a minimum floor, but states can provide stronger worker protections. For tipped employees in Georgia, this principle ensures you receive the benefit of whichever rule gives you higher wages or better protections, 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
In Georgia, the federal Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits employers from keeping any portion of your tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit or pays you the full minimum wage. Your employer, your manager, and your supervisor cannot require you to give them your tips, even if they pay you at least the federal minimum wage directly and take no tip credit. This protection ensures that tips belong to the employees who receive them from customers, not to the business owners or managers. The only exception is valid tip pooling arrangements among employees who customarily receive tips, but even then the employer itself cannot keep any portion of those pooled tips.
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, if your employer takes a tip credit, they can require you to participate in a tip pool, but only with other employees who customarily and regularly receive tips. This is called traditional tip pooling. The pool must be limited to workers in occupations like waiters, bellhops, bussers, and service bartenders - people who typically receive tips as part of their job. The employer cannot include managers, supervisors, or non-tipped workers like cooks or dishwashers in this type of tip pool. The federal law does not limit how much of your tips you must contribute to a valid tip pool, but the pool itself must only include employees who regularly receive tips. Your employer must also notify you of any required tip pool contribution amount before taking the tip credit.
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 different jobs for the same employer - for example, as a maintenance worker and also as a server - you are only considered a tipped employee for the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. This means your employer can only take the tip credit for the hours you work as a server, not for your hours working as a maintenance person. For the non-tipped job, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage without using the tip credit. You must receive at least $30 per month in tips for your server work to qualify as a tipped employee for that portion of your job. This rule prevents employers from applying the lower tipped wage rate to all your hours just because you sometimes work in a tipped position.
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