Nebraska Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Current year
The 2026 Nebraska Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2025
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2025.
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Nebraska. 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 Nebraska. 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 Nebraska 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 Nebraska. 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 Nebraska, you count as a tipped employee under federal law if you work in an occupation where you customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This definition matters because it determines whether your employer is allowed to pay you the lower cash wage and take a tip credit against its minimum wage obligation. If you do not meet this threshold—for example, if you work in a role where tips are occasional or small—you are entitled to the full minimum wage from your employer, with no tip credit allowed. Only tips you actually receive count toward this calculation; tips that never reach you are not included.
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
Nebraska employers may take a tip credit toward their minimum wage obligation for tipped employees. The tip credit equals the difference between the cash wage the employer pays directly to the tipped employee and the full minimum wage. Under federal law, the employer must pay at least $2.13 per hour in cash wages. The tip credit represents the portion of the minimum wage that the employer expects the employee to cover through tips received from customers. The employer must ensure that the employee's cash wages plus tips received equal at least the full minimum wage for each workweek. Only tips actually received by the employee count when determining whether the employee qualifies as a tipped employee and when applying the tip credit.
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 Nebraska, if your tips combined with your employer's cash wages do not equal the full minimum hourly wage in any workweek, your employer must make up the difference. This rule protects you during slow periods when customer tips are low. Your employer cannot rely on an average across multiple weeks—the minimum wage requirement applies to each individual workweek. The employer is responsible for tracking your total compensation (cash wages plus tips) and ensuring it meets or exceeds the minimum wage for every workweek you work. If it falls short, your employer owes you the additional amount needed to reach the minimum wage for that week.
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 taking a tip credit in Nebraska, an employer must give you notice of specific information, including the amount of the direct or cash wage the employer is paying you, which must be at least $2.13 per hour. The notice must also tell you the additional amount the employer is claiming as a tip credit, that the tip credit cannot exceed the actual tips you receive, that you get to keep all your tips except for a valid tip pool, and that the tip credit will not apply unless the employer has given you this information. The employer may give this notice orally or in writing. If the employer fails to provide this required information, it cannot take the tip credit at all and must pay you the full minimum wage. This notice protects you by ensuring you understand how your pay is structured before the employer relies on your tips to meet its wage obligations.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA:
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
When Nebraska state law differs from the federal FLSA rules, employers must follow whichever standard is most protective to employees. This means if state law requires a higher cash wage than the federal amount or provides other stronger protections for tipped workers, Nebraska employers must comply with the state requirements instead of the federal minimum. Some states require employers to pay a higher cash wage than the federal floor or prohibit taking a tip credit entirely. When both federal and state rules apply, you are entitled to whichever arrangement gives you greater wage protection. This rule ensures that stronger worker protections at the state level are not undermined by weaker federal standards.
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 Nebraska, your employer, managers, and supervisors are prohibited from keeping any portion of your tips for any purpose, whether they take a tip credit or not. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer pays you the full minimum wage directly or uses the tip credit provision. Employers cannot require you to give your tips to them, to supervisors, or to managers. This protection extends to tip pools as well—while tip pooling is allowed under certain conditions, employers and their managers cannot participate in or take any share of the pooled tips. Your tips belong to you, and the law prevents those in authority from taking them for any reason.
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 Nebraska, when an employer pays the minimum cash wage of $2.13 and takes a tip credit toward the state minimum wage, the employer can require tipped workers to contribute a portion of their tips to a shared tip pool. However, federal rules restrict who can participate in that pool. The tip pool must be limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. In Nebraska, this means a restaurant owner can require servers, bussers, bartenders, bellhops, and counter staff to share tips with each other, but cannot require those workers to share their tips with cooks, dishwashers, janitors, or other back-of-house employees who do not customarily receive tips from customers. The employer must also notify tipped employees of the required contribution amount before the pool takes effect, and the employer cannot retain any portion of the pooled tips for itself. If Nebraska employers pay tipped workers the full minimum wage instead of taking a tip credit, different pooling rules apply that may allow broader participation.
Traditional Tip Pooling: 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 Nebraska, when you work two different jobs for the same employer—one that is tipped and one that is not—you are considered a tipped employee only with respect to the tipped occupation. For example, if you work as both a maintenance person and a server for the same hotel, your employer can take a tip credit only for the hours you work as a server. They cannot apply the tip credit to your hours working in maintenance, even if you receive some tips while serving. The employer must pay you the full minimum wage for all hours worked in the non-tipped position. This rule prevents employers from using the tip credit to reduce wages for work in occupations that do not traditionally involve receiving 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.
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
Nebraska $15.00 $12.87 $2.13 Not specified
By year
Every published year
11 years on record, 2026 back to 2016. Each year links to its own page, its own document and its own verification date.