2018 North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2018 North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2018-01-01Source: Minimum Wage in N.C. (North Carolina Department of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2017
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2017.
| Item | 2017 | 2018 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
North Carolina employers with tipped employees
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage that North Carolina employers must pay tipped employees remained $2.13 per hour in 2018.
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in North Carolina in 2018?
- Employers must pay tipped employees at least $2.13 per hour in cash wages. If a tipped employee's cash wages plus tips do not equal the full minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference.
Who counts as a tipped employee
Under North Carolina law, an employer may count a worker’s tips toward the state minimum wage only if the employer has told the employee in advance that it will do so and the employee is allowed to keep all of the tips received. In addition, the employer must keep accurate and complete records of the tips each employee receives, and those tips must be certified by the employee either monthly or at each pay period. For employers covered by NCDOL (typically those with less than $500,000 in gross sales), tip pooling is also permitted, provided the tipped employees retain at least 85 percent of the tips they receive. When these conditions are met, the employer may pay a cash wage of $2.13 an hour, so long as the employee’s tips bring total hourly earnings to at least the full minimum wage.
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. 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. 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)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
A tip credit lets an employer count a portion of the tips you earn toward its minimum wage obligation, rather than paying the full minimum wage in direct cash. In North Carolina, the employer must still pay you a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 an hour. That direct wage plus your tips together must add up to at least $7.25 an hour — the state minimum wage. If they do, the employer has met its obligation. If your tips in a given pay period are small, the employer must still bring your total hourly earnings up to $7.25. The cash floor of $2.13 is the lowest direct wage your North Carolina employer can pay you as a tipped worker; it cannot go below that amount even if your tips are large.
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 the tips you earn in a pay period are not enough to bring your total hourly earnings up to the full minimum wage when combined with your $2.13 cash wage, your employer must pay the difference. The employer cannot simply let you absorb the loss on slow weeks. It is the employer's responsibility to track your tips and top up your cash wages so that every tipped employee earns at least the minimum wage for each pay period. This guarantee is not averaged over a month or a quarter — it applies each time you are paid. The $2.13 floor is the lowest direct wage your North Carolina employer can pay you as a tipped worker; if your tips fall short, the employer must make up the gap in cash.
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
Before a North Carolina employer can take a tip credit against your wages, the law requires that you be notified in advance. You must also be permitted to retain all of your tips — the employer cannot keep any portion of them as a condition of your employment. In addition, the employer must keep accurate and complete records of the tips each employee receives, and those tip records must be certified by you monthly or for each pay period. These are conditions the employer must satisfy before it can count your tips toward its minimum wage obligation. If any of these conditions are not met, the employer cannot use the tip credit and must pay you the full minimum wage in direct cash.
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
In North Carolina, the state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which applies to most employers doing business in the state. Some workers, such as agricultural and domestic employees, are instead subject to the federal minimum wage. When both a state and a federal wage rule apply to you in North Carolina, your employer must follow whichever standard provides the greater benefit to you as an employee. For tipped workers, this means the cash wage floor of $2.13 an hour and the requirement that tips bring your total compensation to at least the applicable minimum wage. North Carolina's Department of Labor enforces these rules for businesses within its coverage, and the state's standards apply to state, county, and local government employers as well.
The minimum wage in North Carolina is currently $7.25 an hour. 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
North Carolina law requires that tipped employees be permitted to retain all tips they receive. Your employer, your manager, and your supervisor may not keep any portion of your tips for themselves — the tips belong to the employee who earned them. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit. Even if your employer pays you the reduced cash wage of $2.13 per hour and counts tips toward the minimum wage obligation, every tip dollar must flow to you, the worker. Your employer may only require you to contribute tips to a valid pool shared among tipped employees; the employer itself may never take a cut.
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)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In North Carolina, tip pooling is permitted in businesses covered by the North Carolina Department of Labor — generally those with less than $500,000 in gross sales — as long as the tipped employees retain at least 85 percent of the tips pooled. The employer must keep accurate and complete records of all tips received and the amount earned under the pooling arrangement. This means your employer cannot use a tip pool to divert tips to itself or to managers; the vast majority of pooled tips must go back to the tipped employees. If the 85 percent threshold is not met, the pooling arrangement does not comply with North Carolina law.
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, an employer is permitted to take a tip credit — paying a tipped employee the reduced cash wage of $2.13 per hour — only for time the employee actually spends in a tip-producing role. If you work two different jobs for the same employer, for example as a server during dinner and a cook during prep, you are a tipped employee only for the time you spend in the tipped position. For the hours you work in the non-tipped role, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage with no tip credit applied. The employer must keep accurate records separating your tipped and non-tipped hours so that the tip credit is taken only where it is legally allowed.
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
an employer MUST pay at least $2.13 an hour to tipped employees
Other years
Every North Carolina Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state