2016 Kentucky Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2016 Kentucky Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2016-01-01Source: Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)Verified 2026-08-31
Compared with 2015
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2015.
| Item | 2015 | 2016 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers in Kentucky who pay tipped employees
What changed this year, and why
The Kentucky tipped minimum cash wage remained $2.13 per hour in 2016, unchanged from 2015.
Common questions
- Must the employer still make up the difference if tips are low?
- The employer may pay a cash wage of $2.13 per hour to a tipped employee, but must ensure that tips combined with that cash wage bring the employee's total earnings to at least the full minimum wage each week.
- Can the employer keep an employee's tips?
- No. An employer may not use an employee's tips toward the minimum wage or require an employee to turn over tips, except for lawful withholdings.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Kentucky, a tipped employee is anyone who works in an occupation where they "customarily and regularly receive" more than $30 in tips each month. If you meet that threshold, your employer is allowed to count a portion of those tips toward its obligation to pay you the minimum wage. This definition matters because it determines whether the lower cash wage of $2.13 per hour can be used in the first place. If your job does not normally produce that level of tips—say, you work a back-of-house role that rarely sees gratuities—you are not classified as a tipped employee and your employer must pay you the full minimum wage without relying on a tip credit. The $30-a-month line is a bright test: even occasional large tips do not qualify you if they are not the regular pattern of the occupation you hold in Kentucky.
Any employee engaged in an occupation in which more than $30 dollars per month is customarily and regularly received in tips, the employer may pay a minimum of $2.13 per hour if the employer' records can establish for each week where credit is taken, when adding the tips received to wages paid, not less than the minimum wage is received by the employee.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In Kentucky, when an employer pays a tipped employee the cash wage of $2.13 per hour, it is taking what's called a tip credit. This means the employer is counting a portion of your tips toward its obligation to pay you at least the minimum wage. The tip credit represents the gap between the direct cash wage you receive and the full minimum wage you're owed. If the tips you actually earn in a week, when added to the $2.13 per hour your employer paid you, don't add up to at least the minimum wage for all the hours you worked, then your employer must make up the difference. This is a critical protection: it ensures you never end up earning less than the minimum wage just because business was slow or tips were light that week. Your employer bears the risk of tip fluctuations, not you.
the employer may pay a minimum of $2.13 per hour if the employer' records can establish for each week where credit is taken, when adding the tips received to wages paid, not less than the minimum wage is received by the employee.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
Under Kentucky law, a tipped employee’s cash wage may be as low as $2.13 per hour. But the employer must be able to show, through its records, that when tips are added to wages for each workweek, the employee receives not less than the minimum wage. If in any week your tips plus the $2.13 hourly cash wage leave you earning less than the minimum wage, your employer must make up the difference. The employer cannot simply pocket the shortfall or hope you will absorb it. This rule protects workers during slow weeks, holidays with few customers, or any period when tips do not reach the amount assumed by the tip credit. The $2.13 cash wage is a floor, not a guaranteed total pay rate; the full minimum wage is what you are owed, and the tip credit only works if the numbers actually add up to at least that amount for every week the credit is claimed.
the employer may pay a minimum of $2.13 per hour if the employer' records can establish for each week where credit is taken, when adding the tips received to wages paid, not less than the minimum wage is received by the employee.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In Kentucky, before an employer can take a tip credit and pay you less than the full minimum wage, it must be able to document through its records that for each week the credit is claimed, your tips plus the cash wage of $2.13 per hour add up to at least the minimum wage. This record-keeping requirement means your employer cannot simply decide to pay you the lower cash wage without tracking whether you actually reach the minimum wage when tips are included. In Kentucky, this documentation obligation serves as a practical notice to you: your employer must be monitoring your earnings weekly and be prepared to show that you are being paid at least what you are owed. If your employer in Kentucky cannot produce records showing you received the minimum wage for a particular week, it has no basis for having taken the tip credit that week and must make up any shortfall.
the employer' records can establish for each week where credit is taken, when adding the tips received to wages paid, not less than the minimum wage is received by the employee.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
Kentucky law is clear: your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips. An employer may not use all or part of any tips you receive toward the payment of the minimum wage, and may not require you to hand over any gratuity, except for purposes of withholding amounts required by federal or state law (such as taxes). The tips belong to you, the employee who earned them from the customer. If your employer in Kentucky takes a cut of your tips for itself, or funnels them to managers or supervisors who do not traditionally receive tips, that violates this rule. This protection exists alongside the federal rule and applies to all tipped workers in the state, regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit against the minimum wage.
No employer shall: • Use all or part of any tips or gratuities received by employees toward the payment of the minimum wage. • Require an employee to remit to the employer any gratuity, or any portion thereof, except for the purpose of withholding amoun ts required by federal or state law.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Kentucky, employees may agree among themselves to divide their tips. If they do, each person keeps the share they receive. However, if an employer requires the use of a tip pool, strict rules apply: the account holding the pool must be kept separate from the employer's other business records, and the employer must make the account open to the pool's participants. This transparency requirement means you and your co-workers can see what went in and what came out. Tip pools in Kentucky are meant to be shared only among employees who customarily receive tips as part of their work. The employer itself cannot participate in the pool or skim money from it. If your Kentucky employer forces you into a pool but refuses to show you the account, or mixes pool money with business funds, that violates state law.
If an employer requires the use of a tip pool, then the account used to hold the tip pool shall be segregated from the employer’s other business records and the employer shall make the account open to the pool’s participants.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Kentucky, whether you qualify as a tipped employee depends on the specific occupation you are engaged in. The law applies to employees working in occupations where more than $30 per month in tips is customarily and regularly received. This means if you work two different jobs for the same employer—say, you serve tables during dinner and do prep work in the kitchen before opening—your tipped-employee status applies only to the time you spend in the tip-producing occupation. During your kitchen prep hours, your employer must pay you at least the full minimum wage, not the $2.13 tipped cash wage, unless you are also customarily receiving tips during that work. The occupation-specific test prevents employers from paying the lower cash wage for all your hours just because some of your duties involve receiving tips. In Kentucky, the tipped minimum wage follows the work you are doing at any given moment, not your job title overall.
Any employee engaged in an occupation in which more than $30 dollars per month is customarily and regularly received in tips
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
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.
Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)
- Minimum cash wage
the employer may pay a minimum of $2.13 per hour if the employer' records can establish for each week where credit is taken, when adding the tips received to wages paid,
Other years
Every Kentucky Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state