2026 Kansas Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2026 Kansas Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Kansas. 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 $2.13 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Kansas. 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 Kansas in 2026?
- $2.13 per hour in cash wages. 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 Kansas. Tips make up the remainder of the applicable minimum wage, up to the maximum tip credit stated in the same row.
- 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
Under federal law, a worker in Kansas counts as a tipped employee only if they are engaged in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. If the tips fall below that threshold, the worker is not considered tipped for purposes of the lower cash wage and the tip credit. Only tips actually received by the employee count when making this determination; tips that are owed but never collected do not qualify. This definition matters because it decides whether an employer in Kansas may pay the minimum cash wage of $2.13 per hour and take a credit against the tips earned, or whether the employer must instead pay the full minimum wage without relying on 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
The tip credit is the gap between what your employer pays you directly and the full minimum wage. In Kansas, your employer must pay you a cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour, and the tip credit makes up the rest. The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour, so the maximum tip credit an employer can claim is $5.12 per hour ($7.25 minus $2.13). However, your employer can only claim a tip credit up to the amount of tips you actually receive. If you earn fewer tips than the credit amount, your employer must increase your direct wages to ensure you reach at least $7.25 per hour. The tip credit is not automatic—your employer must verify each workweek that your cash wages plus your tips equal or exceed 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. 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
Kansas employers must verify each workweek that your cash wages plus your tips equal at least the full minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. If your tips fall short—say you work a slow week and your tips plus the $2.13 per hour cash wage don't add up to $7.25—your employer must make up the difference. This guarantee applies every single workweek, not just on average. Your employer cannot use a good week to offset a bad week; each pay period stands alone. The employer's obligation is to ensure you receive at least $7.25 per hour for every hour worked, regardless of how much you earned in tips. This protection ensures that the risk of slow business falls on the employer, not on you.
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 Kansas employer can pay you the lower cash wage of $2.13 per hour and claim a tip credit, they must notify you of specific information. They must tell you the amount of the direct wage they are paying, the amount they are claiming as a tip credit, that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive, that all your tips are yours to keep except for valid tip pooling arrangements limited to employees who customarily receive tips, and that the tip credit will not apply if you have not been informed of these provisions. Your employer can give this notice orally or in writing. If they fail to provide it, they cannot take the tip credit and must pay you the full minimum wage for all hours worked.
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
When Kansas state law provides greater protections than the federal FLSA, employers must comply with the standard most protective to employees. For example, if Kansas requires a higher cash wage than the federal minimum of $2.13 per hour, or if it prohibits the tip credit altogether, your employer must follow the state rule. The federal baseline is just a floor—Kansas can set a higher floor, and your employer must meet it. This principle ensures that workers receive the maximum protection available under either law. If you are uncertain whether your employer is following the correct standard, you can check with the Kansas Department of Labor to see what state law requires for tipped employees in your occupation.
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 Kansas, regardless of whether your employer takes a tip credit, the law prohibits employers from keeping any portion of your tips for any purpose. This includes your manager and your supervisor. Your employer cannot require you to turn over your tips, whether directly or through a tip pool. Even if your employer pays you the full minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and takes no tip credit at all, they still cannot touch your tips. The prohibition applies to any arrangement where your employer benefits from your gratuities. Managers and supervisors are specifically barred from participating in tip pools or receiving any share of tips that customers leave for you.
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. An employer may not require an employee to give their tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even where a tipped employee receives at least the federal minimum wage (currently $7.25) per hour in wages directly from the employer and the employer takes no tip credit.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Kansas, when your employer takes a tip credit and requires you to participate in a tip pool, that pool is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This means the pool can only include workers like waiters, bellhops, bussers, and service bartenders—people whose jobs typically involve receiving gratuities. Your employer cannot force you to share your tips with cooks, dishwashers, or other back-of-house employees who do not customarily receive tips, unless your employer pays you the full minimum wage and does not take a tip credit. The tip pool must be valid under federal law, and your employer must notify you of the required contribution amount. Only tips you actually retain after the pool distribution count toward meeting the minimum wage.
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 Kansas, if you work two jobs for the same employer—one where you receive tips and one where you do not—the tip credit applies only to the tipped job. For example, if you work as a maintenance person but also serve as a server, and you customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for your server work, you are a tipped employee only with respect to your employment as a server. Your employer can take a tip credit for your hours worked as a server, but not for your hours worked as a maintenance person. For the non-tipped hours, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage. This rule prevents employers from applying the tip credit across all your hours when only some of those hours involve work where you regularly receive 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. 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.
Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)
- Minimum cash wage
Kansas 12 $7.25 $5.12 $2.13 Not specified
Other years
- 2026
Every Kansas Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state