2026 Michigan Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2026 Michigan Tipped Minimum Wage is $5.49.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Michigan. 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 $5.49 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Michigan. 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 Michigan in 2026?
- $5.49 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 Michigan. 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
In Michigan, you count as a tipped employee under federal law if your occupation is one where you customarily and regularly bring in more than $30 a month in tips. The $30 figure is a threshold for the occupation itself, not a week-by-week test: it describes the kind of work you do, not whether every single month happens to clear that line. Only tips you actually receive are counted toward this determination and toward any tip credit your employer may later claim. If you meet this definition, your employer may be permitted to pay you a lower direct cash wage and to count a portion of your tips toward its minimum-wage obligation, subject to the other rules that apply to tipped workers in Michigan. If your job does not ordinarily produce tips at that level, you are not a tipped employee for FLSA purposes and your employer must pay you 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
In Michigan, the tip credit is the amount your employer may count from your tips toward its minimum-wage obligation. Under federal law, an employer can take a 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. Michigan's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $5.49, which is the direct wage your employer must hand you before any tip credit is applied. The credit itself is the gap between that cash wage and the full minimum wage your employer owes; only tips you actually receive count when determining whether you qualify as a tipped employee and when the credit is applied. Your employer must be able to show that, in every workweek, your cash wages plus the tip credit amount together reach at least the full 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
In Michigan, if your tips combined with the cash wage your employer pays you do not reach the full minimum hourly wage in a given workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This is a workweek-by-workweek test: your employer cannot average a slow week against a busy one. The rule applies whether or not your employer takes a formal tip credit on your paycheck. As a practical matter, your employer must track both the direct cash wages it pays you and the tips you actually receive, and must add to your pay whenever the two together fall short of the minimum wage for the hours you worked that week. Michigan's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $5.49; that cash wage is the floor your employer must meet directly, and the make-up obligation sits on top of it whenever tips are not enough to bring your total compensation up to the full minimum wage.
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
In Michigan, before your employer can count your tips toward its minimum-wage obligation, it must give you specific notice. The employer must inform you of the cash wage it is paying you, the amount it is claiming as a tip credit, that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive, that you are entitled to keep all your tips except for valid tip pool contributions, and that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been told of these provisions. The notice may be given orally or in writing. If your employer fails to give you this information, it cannot take the tip credit at all and must pay you the full minimum wage directly. Michigan's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $5.49; the notice requirement still applies even where state law sets a higher cash wage than the federal floor, and your employer must still explain all five elements before it can use the credit.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA: the amount of the direct (or cash) wage the employer is paying a tipped employee, which must be at least $2.13 per hour; the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12 (the difference between the minimum required direct (or cash) wage of $2.13 and the current minimum wage of $7.25); that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee; that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Michigan, the federal rule is only the floor. When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. Some states require a higher cash wage than the federal floor or in some cases prohibit the taking of a tip credit altogether. Michigan's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $5.49, which is higher than the federal floor, so employers in Michigan must pay at least that amount in direct cash wages to tipped employees. If Michigan law also provides stronger protections on tip pooling, notice, or the make-up obligation, those state rules govern instead of the weaker federal versions. The "most protective" principle means you always get the benefit of whichever rule — state or federal — leaves you with more pay or keeps more of your tips in your pocket.
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 Michigan, your tips belong to you, not to the business. 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 full minimum wage per hour in wages directly from the employer and the employer takes no tip credit. This rule covers owners, managers, and supervisors: none of them may take a share of what customers leave for you, and none of them may use a tip pool as a way to funnel your tips back to the business. Michigan's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $5.49; that cash wage is what the employer owes you directly, and the rule against keeping tips is a separate protection that prevents the employer from reclaiming any of what customers intended 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.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Michigan, when your employer takes a tip credit, it can require you to contribute your tips only to a pool of workers who themselves customarily and regularly receive tips. A tip pool in that situation 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. This is sometimes called a "traditional" tip pool. The employer must notify you of any required contribution amount, may only take a tip credit for the tips you ultimately keep after the pool is distributed, and may not retain any of the pooled tips for itself or for managers and supervisors. If your employer does not take a tip credit and instead pays you the full minimum wage directly, it has more flexibility to include non-traditionally-tipped occupations in the pool, but it still cannot let managers, supervisors, or the business itself keep a share. Michigan's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $5.49; if your employer pays you at that level and takes a tip credit, the traditional-pool restrictions apply.
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 Michigan, when you work two distinct jobs for the same employer — for example, a hotel maintenance worker who also works shifts as a server — you are a tipped employee only with respect to the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. 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. This means your employer must pay you the full minimum wage for every hour you spend in the non-tipped job, and may only apply the lower tipped-employee cash wage to the hours you actually spend serving. Michigan's minimum cash wage for tipped employees in 2026 is $5.49 for server hours; for the maintenance hours, your employer owes you at least the full Michigan minimum wage, not the reduced tipped rate. This rule is distinct from the situation of a server who spends part of their time on related duties like cleaning tables, toasting bread, or making coffee — those are still part of the tipped occupation and the tip credit can still apply to them.
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
Michigan 15 $13.73 $8.24 $5.49 Not specified
Other years
- 2026
Every Michigan Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state