2017 North Dakota Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2017 North Dakota Tipped Minimum Wage is $4.86.
Effective 2017-01-01Source: North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2016
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2016.
| Item | 2016 | 2017 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $4.86 | $4.86 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Tipped employees in North Dakota
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in North Dakota in 2017 is $4.86 per hour.
Common questions
- Can employers require tip pooling in North Dakota?
- Yes. Employers must ensure that tipped employees receive at least the full minimum wage when direct wages and tips are combined. If tips plus the cash wage fall short, the employer must make up the difference.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In North Dakota, a tipped employee is any service employee who works in an occupation where he or she receives more than a set monthly threshold in tips. A service employee is someone who provides direct service to the customer and to whom the customer shows appreciation by tipping. The employee must regularly and customarily provide personal face-to-face service to individual customers, and that service must be something the customer would recognize as being performed for his or her benefit. Tasks such as cooking and dishwashing do not count as direct service for this purpose. If you work in a role that meets these conditions in North Dakota, your employer may pay you the minimum cash wage of $4.86 per hour and use a tip credit to make up the rest of the minimum wage, provided all of the other state requirements for tipped employees are met.
A tipped employee is any service employee in an occupation in which he or she receives more than thirty dollars per month in tips.
North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
North Dakota allows employers to take a tip credit equal to 33% of the minimum wage for tipped employees. Instead of paying the full minimum wage in cash, the employer pays a direct cash wage of $4.86 per hour and counts the employee's tips toward closing the gap between that cash wage and the full minimum wage. The employer must keep written records showing that each tipped employee actually received at least the full minimum wage for every hour worked when the direct cash wage and the tips are combined. If the tips plus the $4.86 cash wage do not reach the full minimum wage in a given pay period, the employer is still responsible for covering the shortfall. A worker in North Dakota who relies on tips should therefore verify that the total of the cash wage and the tips adds up to at least the full minimum wage for each hour worked.
Employers may utilize a tip credit of 33% of the minimum wage for tipped employees.
North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In North Dakota, employers must maintain written records verifying that tipped employees receive at least the full minimum wage for all hours worked when the direct wage and tips are combined. Because the employer is permitted to pay a direct cash wage of only $4.86 per hour, the employee's tips must bridge the gap between that cash wage and the full minimum wage. If your tips in a given pay period do not bring your total hourly earnings up to the full minimum wage, the employer is responsible for paying the shortfall. North Dakota law places the recordkeeping obligation on the employer, not the employee, so your employer must be able to show in writing that you were paid at least the full minimum wage for every hour you worked. If you find that your total compensation fell below the minimum wage, you have grounds to raise the issue with your employer or with the state agency that enforces these rules.
The employer must maintain written records verifying that tipped employees receive at least the full minimum wage for all hours worked when the direct wage and tips are combined.
North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
Under North Dakota law, an employer who elects to use the tip credit must inform the employee in advance. This means that before your employer starts paying you the reduced cash wage of $4.86 per hour and counting your tips toward the minimum wage, you must be told that the tip credit is being applied. The notice does not need to follow a specific federal form — North Dakota's rule simply requires that the employee be informed before the tip credit takes effect. If you were not told in advance that your employer was taking a tip credit, the employer may not be entitled to use the credit for that period, which could mean you are owed the difference between what you were paid and the full minimum wage. Workers in North Dakota who discover after the fact that a tip credit was applied should check whether they received proper notice.
An employer who elects to use the tip credit must inform the employee in advance.
North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
Under North Dakota law, gratuities offered to an employee by a customer belong to the employee and may not be retained by the employer. This means that all tips — whether left in cash, added to a credit card charge, or received through any other method — are the property of the worker who earned them. An employer in North Dakota cannot take any portion of an employee's tips for itself, and the rule applies regardless of whether the employer also uses a tip credit. The prohibition covers the employer as a business entity; tips must flow to the employees who provided the service. If you work in a tipped occupation in North Dakota and your employer keeps any part of your tips, that conduct violates state administrative code and you may be entitled to recover those amounts.
Gratuities offered to an employee by a customer belong to the employee and may not be retained by the employer.
North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In North Dakota, tip pooling is allowed only among tipped employees. The state requires that tipped employees vote to approve any tip pool, and a majority of all tipped employees must agree to it. The employer must maintain a written record of each vote, including the names of the employees who voted and the vote totals. If a sufficient percentage of tipped employees request a vote on tip pooling, the employer must hold one, and those requesting the vote must provide documentation to support the request. Time spent in meetings called by employees exclusively for tip-related issues is not counted as work time. At gaming sites that regularly have a small number of tipped employees on duty, the employer can require tip pooling among all tipped employees at the site without a vote. Pit bosses and supervisors at gaming sites are not considered tipped employees when they are performing supervisory duties, and they cannot participate in the tip pool during those times.
Tip pooling is allowed only among the tipped employees.
North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)
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.
North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)
- Minimum cash wage
With the tip credit applied, the minimum direct wage payable to a tipped employee is $4.86 per hour
Other years
Every North Dakota Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state