2023 Kentucky Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2023 Kentucky Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: Kentucky Wage and Hour Laws (Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet)Verified 2026-08-30
Compared with 2022
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2022.
| Item | 2022 | 2023 | 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
Kentucky's tipped minimum wage for 2023 remains at a minimum cash wage of $2.13 per hour for employees who customarily and regularly receive tips.
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Kentucky in 2023?
- The minimum cash wage is $2.13 per hour. The employer must ensure that the employee's tips combined with this cash wage bring total earnings to at least the full minimum wage each week.
- What can an employer do if tips plus the cash wage do not reach the full minimum wage?
- The employer must make up the difference so the employee receives at least the full minimum wage for each workweek.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Kentucky, you count as a tipped employee if you work in an occupation where you customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold determines whether your employer is allowed to pay you the lower tipped cash wage of $2.13 per hour instead of the full state minimum wage. If your tips in a given month are small or irregular and do not cross that $30 line, the special tipped-employee rules do not apply to you for that period, and your employer must pay you at least the regular minimum wage. The test looks at what is customary and regular in your occupation, not just what happens in a single busy month. Kentucky's wage law ties the definition to this monthly dollar amount, so both the nature of your job duties and the typical size of the gratuities you receive matter in deciding whether the tipped wage category fits.
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, the tip credit is the gap between the cash wage your employer actually pays you and the full state minimum wage. Your employer may pay a tipped employee a direct cash wage of $2.13 per hour. The difference between that amount and the minimum wage is the tip credit the employer claims. However, the employer may only take this credit if its records show that for every workweek, your tips plus the $2.13 cash wage together equal at least the full minimum wage. The credit is not automatic — it is conditional on the employer being able to document, week by week, that you actually received enough in tips to close the gap. If the records cannot establish that, the employer cannot rely on the credit and must pay the full minimum wage in cash. In other words, the tip credit shifts the burden of proof to the employer: it must show the math works each week before it is allowed to pay below the minimum wage.
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)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
Kentucky requires that a tipped employee receive at least the full state minimum wage for every hour worked, counting both the cash wage and tips together. If your employer pays you $2.13 per hour in cash and claims a tip credit, it must be able to show from its records that your tips plus that cash wage reached the minimum wage for each workweek. When they do not — when a slow week leaves your total earnings below the minimum wage floor — the employer must make up the difference out of its own funds. The employer cannot simply absorb the shortfall or average it out over a longer period. The guarantee runs week by week: if tips fall short in any given week, the employer owes you enough additional cash to bring your hourly rate up to the minimum wage for that week. This means the risk of a bad tip week falls on the employer, not on you, and you are entitled to receive at least the minimum wage regardless of how much you earned in gratuities.
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
Under Kentucky law, before an employer can pay you the tipped cash wage of $2.13 per hour instead of the full minimum wage, it must be able to demonstrate through its records that the conditions for taking the tip credit are met each week. The employer cannot simply start paying the lower wage and assume the credit is valid. Kentucky requires that the employer's records establish, for each workweek where credit is taken, that when your tips are added to the wages paid, you receive at least the minimum wage. This documentation requirement means the employer must track both the wages it pays you and the tips you receive on a week-by-week basis. If the employer cannot produce records showing that the credit was properly calculated for a given week, it has no basis for having paid you below the minimum wage during that period. The rule protects you by ensuring that the tip credit is not taken blindly or retroactively — the employer must have the data to justify it before relying on it.
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 state law gives more than the federal rule
Kentucky has its own wage and hour laws governing tipped employees, and these rules exist alongside federal standards. When both Kentucky law and federal law apply to your situation, the employer must comply with whichever rule gives you the greater protection. This means that if one level of government sets a higher cash wage for tipped workers, or offers stronger safeguards for your tips, that is the standard your employer must follow — even if the other level of government allows a less favorable arrangement. For example, Kentucky sets its tipped cash wage at $2.13 per hour. If federal law were to require a higher amount, or if Kentucky were to raise its own standard above the federal level, the more favorable figure would control. The principle ensures that you always receive the benefit of the most employee-friendly rule in effect, rather than being subject to the weaker of two overlapping standards. Employers in Kentucky must monitor both state and federal requirements and apply the one that works best for their workers.
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)
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 any portion of your tips. The state prohibits employers from using your tips or gratuities to satisfy their obligation to pay you the minimum wage, and it also prohibits them from requiring you to hand over any part of your tips to the business. The only exception is when the employer is withholding amounts required by federal or state law, such as taxes. Your tips belong to you, not to the business. This rule prevents employers from treating customer gratuities as business revenue or as a subsidy for wages they owe. Even if an employer pays you the full minimum wage in cash, it still may not take your tips for itself. The prohibition is absolute for the employer's own benefit: while employees may voluntarily pool tips among themselves under certain conditions, the employer may not participate in that pool or retain any share of the gratuities customers leave for the workforce.
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
Kentucky allows tipped employees to enter into agreements among themselves to divide their tips — this is a voluntary tip pool run by the workers. When employees make such an arrangement, the amounts each person retains from the pool are treated as that individual's own tips. If the employer, rather than the employees, requires a tip pool, Kentucky imposes special rules: the account used to hold the pooled tips must be kept separate from the employer's other business records, and the employer must make that account open to the pool's participants so they can see what goes in and what comes out. The purpose of these requirements is to prevent the employer from using the tip pool as a way to divert or obscure employees' gratuities. The tip pool must remain transparent and must not become a vehicle for the employer to take a cut. Employees in Kentucky have the right to know how their pooled tips are being handled, and the law forces the employer to keep the pool's finances visible and separate.
Employees may enter into an agreement to divide tips among themselves. If employees enter into this type of agreement, the amounts retained by the employees shall be considered tips of the individuals who retain them. 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, the definition of a tipped employee is tied to a specific occupation. The law states that the employee must be engaged in an occupation in which more than $30 dollars per month is customarily and regularly received in tips. This occupation-based definition matters when you perform two different kinds of work for the same employer. You count as a tipped employee only with respect to the occupation in which you regularly receive tips above the $30 monthly threshold. The time you spend doing other work — work that does not customarily produce tips — is not covered by the tipped-employee wage rules. Your employer cannot apply the lower $2.13 cash wage to hours you spend in a non-tipped occupation, even if your overall earnings for the week are high enough. Each occupation you perform is evaluated separately to determine whether the tipped-employee rules apply to that work. If you switch between a tipped role and a non-tipped role during the same workweek, the employer must track which hours belong to which occupation and pay accordingly.
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
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.
Other years
Every Kentucky Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state