2023 North Dakota Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2023 North Dakota Tipped Minimum Wage is $4.86.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: North Dakota Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Summary Poster (North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2022
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2022.
| Item | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $4.86 | $4.86 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in North Dakota
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $4.86 per hour for 2023.
Common questions
- What records must employers keep for tipped employees?
- 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.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In North Dakota, a tipped employee is any service employee who works in an occupation where they receive more than a small threshold amount in monthly tips. This means that if you work in a position where customers regularly give you tips, you may qualify as a tipped employee under state law. The employee must also provide direct, personal face-to-face service to customers - so positions like cooking or dishwashing don't qualify even if tips are received, because those jobs don't involve the direct customer interaction that tipping recognizes. Your employer can pay you a direct cash wage of $4.86 per hour, which reflects a tip credit, as long as your tips combined with this cash wage equal at least the full minimum wage for all hours worked. The definition ensures that only workers who genuinely depend on customer gratuities as part of their compensation are subject to the tipped minimum wage rules.
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
In North Dakota, employers can take a tip credit equal to 33% of the minimum wage when paying tipped employees. This means that instead of paying the full minimum wage directly, your employer can pay you a cash wage of $4.86 per hour and count your tips toward the remaining portion. The 33% tip credit represents the share of the minimum wage that the employer is allowed to cover through your tips rather than direct wages. Even though the employer pays a lower direct wage, you must still receive at least the full minimum wage when your tips are added in. If in any pay period your tips fall short of covering the remaining two-thirds, your employer must make up the difference.
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, if your cash wage plus your tips don't add up to at least the full minimum wage for all hours worked, your employer must pay the shortfall. The employer is required to maintain written records verifying that tipped employees receive at least the full minimum wage when the direct wage and tips are combined. This means that on any workday or pay period where your tips are low - perhaps because of slow business or fewer customers - your employer cannot simply pay you the $4.86 per hour cash wage and leave you short. They must track your total compensation and make up the difference to ensure you receive the full minimum wage. This protection applies to all hours worked, so employers cannot average good and bad days in a way that leaves you underpaid overall.
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
In North Dakota, before an employer can use the tip credit to pay you less than the full minimum wage directly, they must inform you in advance. This notice requirement ensures that you understand your employer is counting on your tips to make up the difference between the $4.86 per hour cash wage and the full minimum wage. Without proper advance notice, the employer cannot legally apply the tip credit and pay you the reduced cash wage. This protection gives you the information you need to understand your compensation structure and to verify that you're receiving at least the full minimum wage when your tips are added to your direct wages.
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
In North Dakota, all tips belong to the employee who receives them - your employer cannot keep any portion of your tips for any reason. This rule under N.D. Admin. Code ยง 46-02-07-03 makes clear that when a customer offers a gratuity to you as the employee who provided the service, that money is yours, not the business's. Whether you work as a server, bartender, or in another tipped service position, the cash and credit card tips customers give you must be passed along to you in full. Even if your employer takes a tip credit and pays you the lower cash wage of $4.86 per hour, they still cannot keep any of your tips - those tips remain your property and are what allow the employer to count them toward the tip credit.
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 restricted to employees who work in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. You cannot be required to share your tips with cooks, dishwashers, or other back-of-house staff who don't typically receive gratuities from customers. Before a tip pool can be established, there must be a vote among all tipped employees, and a majority plus one must approve it. The employer must maintain written records of each vote, including the names of employees who voted and the vote totals. If a sufficient number of tipped employees request a vote on whether to pool tips, the employer must hold one. This system gives tipped employees control over whether their tips are shared and ensures the pool only includes workers who depend on tips as part of their compensation.
Tip pooling is allowed only among the tipped employees. A vote of tipped employees to allow tip pooling must be taken, and fifty percent plus one of all tipped employees must approve it.
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