2016 North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2016 North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2016-01-01Source: Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)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 North Carolina who have tipped employees and are covered by the state minimum wage law
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage that North Carolina employers must pay tipped employees remained $2.13 per hour.
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in North Carolina?
- Employers must pay tipped employees at least $2.13 per hour in cash wages.
- What if a tipped employee's tips do not bring their total hourly earnings up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer must make up the difference so that the employee receives at least the full minimum wage for every hour worked.
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In North Carolina, when an employer takes a tip credit, they must still pay you at least $2.13 an hour in direct cash wages. This is the minimum cash wage floor for tipped employees. The tip credit allows the employer to count your tips toward meeting the full minimum wage obligation, but only if you receive enough in tips to make up the difference between the $2.13 cash wage and the minimum wage. This arrangement means your total compensation—cash wages plus tips—must equal at least the minimum wage for all hours worked. If your tips are insufficient to reach that threshold, the employer cannot use the tip credit to reduce your cash pay below what is needed to meet the minimum wage requirement.
In North Carolina, an employer MUST pay at least $2.13 an hour to tipped employees as long as each employee receives enough in tips to make up the difference between the wages paid and the minimum wage ($7.25).
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In North Carolina, if your tips do not bring your total earnings up to the minimum wage, your employer must pay you more than the $2.13 hourly cash wage to make up the shortfall. It is the employer's responsibility to ensure that all tipped employees earn at least the minimum wage when you combine cash wages and tips. This means the employer cannot simply pay you $2.13 per hour and leave you to rely entirely on tips—if those tips fall short, the employer must increase your direct wage to cover the gap. This protection ensures that tipped workers in North Carolina are guaranteed to receive at least the minimum wage for all hours worked, regardless of how much they earn in tips on any given shift.
Employers MUST pay more than the $2.13 hourly cash wage if the tipped employee earns less than the credit in tips per hour, as it is the employer’s responsibility to make sure that all tipped employees earn at least the minimum wage in cash wages and tips.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In North Carolina, before an employer can count your tips toward the minimum wage, the law requires that you be notified in advance and permitted to keep all your tips. The employer must also maintain accurate and complete records of the tips you receive, and you must certify those tips monthly or for each pay period. This notice requirement ensures you understand how the tip credit works and what your rights are. Without proper advance notification, the employer cannot legally take a tip credit, meaning they must pay you the full minimum wage in cash rather than the lower tipped employee rate. This protection gives you transparency about your compensation structure and ensures you retain control over your tips.
However, for an employer to be able to count tips as wages and take a tip credit towards the minimum wage, the law requires that tipped employees be notified in advance and be permitted to retain all tips, and requires that the employer maintains accurate and complete records of tips received by each employee and such tips must be certified by tipped employees monthly or for each pay period.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
North Carolina law works alongside federal minimum wage requirements, and when both apply, the rule that provides greater protection to employees controls. In North Carolina, the state minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, which matches the federal minimum wage. However, if state law ever provided a higher minimum wage or stronger protections for tipped employees than federal law, employers in North Carolina would need to follow the state standard. This principle ensures that workers receive the maximum benefit available under either set of rules. For tipped employees, this means following whichever law—state or federal—results in higher cash wages or better tip retention rights.
Employers doing business in North Carolina are required to pay at least $7.25 per hour to all employees (agricultural and domestic employees are subject to the federal minimum wage).
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In North Carolina, when an employer takes a tip credit, the law requires that you be permitted to retain all your tips. This means your employer, manager, or supervisor cannot keep any portion of your tips for themselves. The only exception is a valid tip pooling arrangement among tipped employees, which must meet specific requirements. This protection ensures that the tips you earn belong to you, not to the business or its management. Even though the employer is allowed to count your tips toward meeting the minimum wage obligation through the tip credit, those tips remain yours. The employer cannot use the tip credit as a way to reduce your take-home tip income or claim a share of what customers give you.
However, for an employer to be able to count tips as wages and take a tip credit towards the minimum wage, the law requires that tipped employees be notified in advance and be permitted to retain all tips
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
North Carolina law allows tip pooling arrangements in businesses covered by the state's minimum wage requirements, which generally includes businesses making less than $500,000 in gross sales. However, there is an important restriction: tipped employees must retain at least 85 percent of the tips they receive through the pooling arrangement. This means that while employers can require participation in a tip pool to distribute gratuities among service staff, the pool cannot be structured in a way that diverts a significant portion of tips away from the tipped workers themselves. The employer must maintain accurate and complete records of all tips received and the amounts distributed under the tip pooling arrangement. This rule protects tipped employees in North Carolina from arrangements where management or non-tipped staff might capture too large a share of the gratuities that customers intend for the service workers.
In businesses that are covered by NCDOL for minimum wage (generally businesses that make less than $500,000 in gross sales), tip pooling is permitted as long as the tipped employees retain at least 85 percent of the tips they receive, which means the employer must maintain accurate and complete records of the tips received and the amount of tips earned under the tip pooling arrangement.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In North Carolina, if you work in multiple roles for the same employer, you are only considered a tipped employee with respect to the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. For example, if you work as a server for part of your shift and as a cook for another part, the tip credit rules apply only to your hours as a server. During your cooking hours, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage without taking a tip credit. This prevents employers from applying the lower tipped employee wage rate to all your work when you only receive tips in one of your positions. Each job must be evaluated separately to determine whether the tipped employee rules apply, ensuring you receive proper compensation for non-tipped work.
For employers who have “tipped employees,” employers are permitted to take a credit for a certain amount of tips earned by their employees toward the employers’ payment of the minimum wage.
Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
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 Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)
- Minimum cash wage
In North Carolina, an employer MUST pay at least $2.13 an hour to tipped employees as long as each employee receives enough in tips to make up the difference between the wages paid and the minimum wage ($7.25).
Other years
Every North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state