2024 New Jersey Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2024 New Jersey Tipped Minimum Wage is $5.26.
Effective 2024-01-01Source: New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2023
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2023.
| Item | 2023 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $5.26 | $5.26 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
New Jersey employers of tipped employees subject to the state minimum wage
What changed this year, and why
New Jersey's minimum cash wage for tipped employees remained at $5.26 per hour for 2024, effective January 1, 2024.
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in New Jersey for 2024?
- The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in New Jersey is $5.26 per hour for 2024, effective January 1, 2024.
- What happens if a tipped employee's cash wage plus tips do not equal the state minimum wage?
- The employer must pay the employee the difference.
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
New Jersey law sets a lower cash wage for tipped workers. In 2024, the minimum cash wage for these employees is $5.26 per hour. Employers may claim a tip credit of up to $9.87 per hour against the full state minimum wage. However, if the cash wage the employer pays plus the tips the employee receives do not add up to at least the full state minimum wage, the employer must pay the employee the difference. This means that a tipped worker in New Jersey is guaranteed to earn at least the state minimum wage when their direct wages and tips are combined, even though the employer is allowed to pay a lower base hourly rate.
Tipped workers cash wage will remain at $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim a $9.87 tip credit, an increase of $1. If the minimum cash wage plus an employee’s tips do not equal at least the state minimum wage, then the employer must pay the employee the difference.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In New Jersey for 2024, the cash wage that employers must pay tipped workers is $5.26 per hour. This is the minimum direct payment an employee in a tipped role receives from the employer, regardless of how much the employee earns in gratuities on top of that amount. The cash wage sits below the full state minimum wage because the employer is permitted to use a tip credit to bridge the gap. The tip credit is the amount the employer counts from the employee's tips toward satisfying the full minimum-wage obligation; in New Jersey for 2024, that credit is $9.87 per hour. Together, the $5.26 cash wage and the $9.87 tip credit equal the state's full minimum wage. If an employee's tips in any workweek are less than the credit amount, or if the combination of cash wage and actual tips falls short of the full minimum wage, the employer is required to make up the shortfall so the worker receives at least the minimum wage. The cash wage does not change based on how busy a shift is — it is owed every hour a tipped employee works.
Tipped workers cash wage will remain at $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim a $9.87 tip credit, an increase of $1.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In New Jersey, if a tipped worker's cash wage and actual tips combined do not reach the full state minimum wage in any workweek, the employer must pay the worker the shortfall. This guarantee applies to every hour worked. For 2024, the cash wage that must be paid directly to the tipped worker is $5.26 per hour. The employer's obligation is not limited to paying that base amount; it must ensure the employee's total compensation — cash wage plus tips — equals at least the full minimum wage. If a slow shift or a low-tipping period leaves the worker below that threshold, the employer covers the gap. The worker does not have to repay the employer if tips later exceed the credit in another week; the make-up obligation runs in the employer's direction only. This rule means that in New Jersey, the tip credit is never a guarantee of lower total pay for the worker — it is simply a mechanism for counting tips toward the minimum wage, and the employer always bears the risk of a shortfall.
If the minimum cash wage plus an employee’s tips do not equal at least the state minimum wage, then the employer must pay the employee the difference.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In New Jersey, before an employer may take a tip credit against a worker's wages, it must provide the employee with specific information about how the credit works. This notice requirement ensures that tipped workers understand their cash wage, the tip credit amount, and how their total compensation is calculated. For 2024, the cash wage is $5.26 per hour. The employer must inform the worker of the direct wage it will pay, the additional amount it will claim as a tip credit, and that if the worker's tips do not bring total compensation to at least the minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference. Without this advance notice, the employer loses the right to use the tip credit and must pay the full minimum wage directly. New Jersey workers should receive this information at the start of employment or whenever the wage structure changes, so they can verify that their pay stubs reflect the correct calculations.
Tipped workers cash wage will remain at $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim a $9.87 tip credit, an increase of $1.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In New Jersey, employers, managers, and supervisors are prohibited from keeping any portion of a tipped employee's tips. Tips belong to the employee who earned them. An employer may only use tips in two ways: to count them toward the tip credit (up to the allowed amount) or to distribute them through a lawful tip pool among eligible workers. For 2024, the cash wage for tipped workers is $5.26 per hour. Any tip dollars beyond what the employer counts as the tip credit remain the employee's property. If a manager, supervisor, or the business itself retains any share of tips — for example, by skimming a percentage of credit-card tips or requiring employees to hand over cash gratuities — that practice violates wage protections. Workers who believe their employer is keeping their tips may file a complaint with the state labor department. This rule ensures that the tip credit system benefits workers as intended: by supplementing a lower direct wage, not by subsidizing the employer's payroll costs.
Tipped workers cash wage will remain at $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim a $9.87 tip credit, an increase of $1.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In New Jersey, tip pools are limited to employees in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. An employer may require tipped workers to contribute a portion of their tips to a pool that is shared among eligible participants, but the pool may not include workers who do not themselves receive tips as a regular feature of their jobs — such as back-of-house staff in roles that are not ordinarily tipped, or managers and supervisors. For 2024, the cash wage for tipped employees is $5.26 per hour. The tip-pool arrangement must not reduce the worker's total compensation below the minimum wage when combined with the direct cash wage. Employers may not use a tip pool to redistribute tips to themselves or to non-tipped employees. Workers who are required to share tips with ineligible participants may have grounds for a wage complaint. The rule ensures that tip pooling serves its intended purpose — smoothing income among workers in similar customer-facing roles — rather than functioning as a way for the employer to shift labor costs.
Tipped workers cash wage will remain at $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim a $9.87 tip credit, an increase of $1.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In New Jersey, when an employee performs both tipped and non-tipped work for the same employer, the tip-credit rules apply only to the time spent in the tipped occupation. For example, a worker who serves as a server during dinner and as a prep cook during the morning is a tipped employee only with respect to the server role. During hours spent on non-tipped duties, the employer must pay the full state minimum wage without using any tip credit. For 2024, the cash wage for tipped work is $5.26 per hour. Employers must track how much time workers spend in each role and apply the correct wage to each. If an employee spends a substantial amount of time on non-tipped tasks, even within a tipped occupation — such as a server spending extended time on cleaning or prep work that does not produce tips — the employer may lose the ability to take the tip credit for that time. This rule prevents employers from using a lower tipped wage for work that does not generate gratuities, ensuring that workers receive full minimum wage for all non-tipped hours.
Tipped workers cash wage will remain at $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim a $9.87 tip credit, an increase of $1.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
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.
New Jersey’s Minimum Wage to Surpass $15 Per Hour Target Set by Gov. Murphy (New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development)
- Minimum cash wage
Tipped workers cash wage will remain at $5.26/hour, with employers able to claim a $9.87 tip credit, an increase of $1.
Other years
Every New Jersey Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state