2025 Illinois Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2025 Illinois Tipped Minimum Wage is $9.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)Verified 2026-08-31
Compared with 2024
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $8.40 | $9 | +$0.60 (+7.1%) |
Who it applies to
Illinois employers that pay tipped employees
What changed this year, and why
Illinois's tipped minimum cash wage increased from $8.40 per hour to $9.00 per hour, effective January 1, 2025.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum cash wage in Illinois for 2025?
- Effective January 1, 2025, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Illinois is $9.00 per hour. If an employee's tips combined with this cash wage do not equal the full minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
- What was the tipped minimum cash wage before 2025?
- In 2024, the tipped minimum cash wage in Illinois was $8.40 per hour.
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.
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Illinois, the tip credit is the difference between the full minimum wage and the direct cash wage paid to tipped employees. Tipped employees in Illinois receive a direct cash wage of $9 per hour. The employer claims a tip credit equal to the difference between the direct wage and the full minimum wage. If an employee's tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. This means the employer can pay less than the full minimum wage in cash, but only if the employee's tips make up the gap. The employer must track tips and wages each pay period. If the $9 hourly wage plus tips falls short of the full minimum wage, the employer pays the shortfall. The tip credit only works when tips are sufficient to bridge the gap between $9 and the full minimum wage.
$9.00 PER HOUR Applies to tipped employees. If an employee’s tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In Illinois, tipped employees receive a minimum cash wage of $9 per hour from their employer. The law requires that if an employee's tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. This means that every pay period, the employer must add up the tips you received and the cash wage you were paid. If those two amounts together come to less than the full state minimum wage for every hour you worked, your employer has to pay you the shortfall. The tip credit is not a permanent reduction in your pay. It is a conditional allowance that only works when your tips are large enough to bridge the gap between your cash wage and the full minimum wage. In a slow week, when your tips are low, your employer still owes you the full minimum wage for every hour you worked.
Applies to tipped employees. If an employee’s tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In Illinois, employers must provide information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit. This notice requirement ensures workers understand their rights before receiving the lower cash wage. While the specific document doesn't detail all notice requirements, Illinois law requires that if an employee's tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. Employers should inform tipped employees about the $9 per hour cash wage, how the tip credit works, and that the employer is responsible for ensuring total compensation reaches the full minimum wage. Without proper notice, employers may not be able to claim the tip credit and could be required to pay the full minimum wage. Workers should receive clear information about how their pay is calculated before the tip credit is applied.
Applies to tipped employees. If an employee’s tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In Illinois, employers are prohibited from keeping any portion of employees' tips. While the specific document doesn't detail all provisions about tip ownership, Illinois law requires that if an employee's tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. This structure implies that tips belong to the employee, not the employer. Tips received by tipped employees must be retained by those employees, except for valid tip pooling arrangements with other tipped employees. Your employer, manager, or supervisor cannot take a share of your tips. Tips are the property of the worker who receives them, whether given in cash, added to a credit card receipt, or received through electronic payment. If an employer keeps any portion of your tips, they violate Illinois wage law.
Applies to tipped employees. If an employee’s tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Illinois, tip pooling arrangements are limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This means your employer can require you to share tips with other workers, but only if those workers are also tipped employees like servers, bartenders, bussers, and food runners who regularly receive tips. The employer cannot require tipped employees to share tips with back-of-house workers who do not customarily receive tips, such as cooks or dishwashers, unless those workers also customarily and regularly receive tips. Illinois law requires that if an employee's tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. This protection ensures that tip pools are used to redistribute tips among workers who rely on tips as part of their compensation.
Applies to tipped employees. If an employee’s tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Illinois, an employee who performs both tipped and non-tipped work for the same employer is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment in the tipped occupation. This means if you work part of your time as a server receiving tips and part of your time doing other work like cooking or cleaning, your employer can only apply the tipped wage rules to the hours you spend serving. For the hours you spend on non-tipped work, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage, not the lower tipped wage of $9 per hour. Illinois law requires that if an employee's tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. This protects workers from being paid the lower tipped wage for all their hours when some of those hours are spent doing work that does not generate tips.
Applies to tipped employees. If an employee’s tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)
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.
Your Rights Under Illinois Employment Laws (2025) (Illinois Department of Labor)
- Minimum cash wage
$9.00 PER HOUR Applies to tipped employees. If an employee’s tips combined with the wages from the employer do not equal the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Other years
Every Illinois Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state