2026 Hawaii Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2026 Hawaii Tipped Minimum Wage is $14.75.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Hawaii. 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, and the table sets out separately how much an employee must receive in tips to count as a tipped employee at all.
What changed this year, and why
The Wage and Hour Division's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, in the version last revised July 1, 2026, gives $14.75 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Hawaii. The table adds a condition Hawaii alone carries, quoted in full beside the figure: the tip credit is permissible only where the combined amount the employee receives from the employer and in tips clears the applicable minimum wage by the margin that footnote sets. 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 is the tipped minimum wage in Hawaii in 2026?
- $14.75 per hour in cash wages, where the tip credit is available. That is what the Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, last revised July 1, 2026, gives as the minimum cash wage for a tipped employee in Hawaii. The same table adds that the tip credit is permissible in Hawaii only where the combined amount the employee receives from the employer and in tips clears the applicable minimum wage by the margin its footnote states, quoted beside the figure above, so an employer who cannot meet that test takes no credit at all.
- What if tips do not bring the employee up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer pays 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 fall short of the applicable minimum wage is owed the shortfall in wages.
- Where does the figure on this page come from?
- From Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, the table the Wage and Hour Division publishes by state, in the version last revised July 1, 2026. The 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
In Hawaii, a tipped employee is anyone who works in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips from customers. This means that occasional tips do not qualify you—your tips must be a regular and expected part of your job. If you meet this threshold, your employer is subject to special rules about how they pay you, including whether they can take a tip credit against the minimum wage. The $30-a-month figure is the federal threshold under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and it determines whether the tip-credit and tip-pooling rules apply to your position. For Hawaii workers in 2026, the minimum cash wage is $14.75 per hour, but the definition of who counts as tipped depends on your actual tip receipts, not on what your employer expects you to earn.
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 tip credit is the difference between the cash wage your employer pays you directly and the full minimum wage. In Hawaii, your employer must pay you at least $14.75 per hour in cash wages. The tip credit system allows employers to count your tips toward meeting their minimum wage obligation, but the credit can only equal the gap between your cash wage and the minimum wage. Your employer must ensure that your cash wage plus your tips together reach at least the full minimum wage for every hour you work. This means that while your employer can pay you less in direct wages than other employees, your total compensation—wages plus tips—must still meet the minimum wage floor. If your tips fall short in any workweek, your employer must cover the gap to bring you up to the minimum wage.
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
If your tips plus your cash wage do not add up to the minimum wage in any workweek, your employer must pay you the difference. In Hawaii, this means your employer must ensure you receive at least $14.75 per hour for every hour you work. This protection applies regardless of how many tips you actually receive from customers. Even during slow periods or in seasons when tips are low, your employer cannot let your total compensation fall below the minimum wage. The employer bears the responsibility to track your earnings each workweek and make up any shortfall. This rule prevents employers from shifting the full risk of low tip income onto workers and ensures that tipped employees in Hawaii receive at least the minimum wage for their labor.
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 use a tip credit, they must give you specific information about how the tip credit works. In Hawaii, this notice must include the cash wage your employer is paying you, which must be at least $14.75 per hour; the amount your employer is claiming as a tip credit; that the tip credit cannot exceed the cash wage actually received; that all tips you receive are yours to keep, except for valid tip pool contributions; 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 your employer fails to provide this information before taking a tip credit, they lose the right to use the tip credit system and must pay you the full minimum wage without counting your tips toward their obligation.
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 Hawaii law provides better protections than federal law, your employer must follow whichever rule is more favorable to you. For example, if Hawaii requires a higher cash wage than federal law, your employer must pay you the higher amount. If Hawaii prohibits tip credits entirely, your employer cannot use the tip credit system and must pay you the full minimum wage in cash. This principle ensures that workers in Hawaii receive the strongest protections available under either federal or state law. You are entitled to the benefit of whichever standard gives you higher wages, better tip protections, or stronger requirements for employer notice. Employers cannot choose to follow only the federal rules if Hawaii's rules are more protective of tipped employees.
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
Your employer, including managers and supervisors, cannot keep any of your tips for any reason. This rule applies whether or not your employer uses a tip credit. In Hawaii, all tips you receive belong to you, and your employer cannot require you to hand over your tips to them, to a manager, or to a supervisor. This protection also applies through tip pools—your employer cannot use a tip pool as a way to take a share of your tips for themselves or their management staff. The rule ensures that tips remain the property of the employees who earn them from customers, not the business owners or managers who oversee the workplace. Even if your employer pays you the full minimum wage without taking a tip credit, they still cannot keep any portion of your tip income.
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
If your employer uses a tip credit, they can only require you to contribute to a tip pool that includes employees in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. In Hawaii, this means a traditional tip pool can include workers like waiters, bussers, service bartenders, bellhops, and counter personnel who serve customers, but cannot include back-of-house workers like cooks or dishwashers who do not typically receive tips from patrons. Your employer must notify you of any required tip pool contribution amount before taking a tip credit, and can only take a tip credit for the tips you actually keep after your contribution. The tip pool must be limited to traditionally tipped positions when your employer is using the tip credit system to meet minimum wage obligations.
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
When you work two different jobs for the same employer—one tipped and one not—you are only considered a tipped employee for the hours you work in the tipped occupation. In Hawaii, this means if you work as a server part of the time and as a maintenance worker part of the time, your employer can only use the tip credit system for your server hours. For your maintenance hours, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage of $14.75 per hour without taking a tip credit. You must customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for your server work to be considered a tipped employee in that role. This dual jobs rule prevents employers from applying the tip credit to non-tipped work and ensures you receive proper compensation for all the different types of work you perform.
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
Hawaii* $16.00 $1.25 $14.75 *Hawaii: Tip Credit in Hawaii is permissible if the combined amount the employee receives from the employer and in tips is at least $7.00 more than the applicable minimum wage.
Other years
- 2026
Every Hawaii Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state