Northern Mariana Islands Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Current year
The 2026 Northern Mariana Islands Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in the Northern Mariana Islands. The cash wage is the part of the minimum wage the employer pays directly. The rest may be met by the employee's tips, up to the maximum tip credit the same row of the table states, and the table sets out separately how much an employee must receive in tips to count as a tipped employee at all.
What changed this year, and why
The Wage and Hour Division's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, in the version last revised July 1, 2026, gives $2.13 per hour as the minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in the Northern Mariana Islands. The table carries only its own revision date and never dates the rate, so this page reports the figure as in force as of that revision rather than claiming an effective date no document states.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum wage in the Northern Mariana Islands in 2026?
- $2.13 per hour in cash wages. That is what the Department of Labor's table of minimum wages for tipped employees, last revised July 1, 2026, gives as the minimum cash wage for a tipped employee in the Northern Mariana Islands. Tips make up the remainder of the applicable minimum wage, up to the maximum tip credit stated in the same row.
- What if tips do not bring the employee up to the full minimum wage?
- The employer pays the difference. A tip credit is a credit against the minimum wage the employer already owes, not a lower wage in its own right, so an employee whose cash wage and tips together fall short of the applicable minimum wage is owed the shortfall in wages.
- Where does the figure on this page come from?
- From Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees, the table the Wage and Hour Division publishes by state, in the version last revised July 1, 2026. The row it was read from is quoted on this page, and the snapshot it was verified against is the one captured for this record.
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
In the Northern Mariana Islands, the Fair Labor Standards Act defines who counts as a tipped employee for minimum wage purposes. A worker qualifies as a tipped employee if they are engaged in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold matters because it determines whether an employer in the Northern Mariana Islands can apply the special tipped wage rules, including the lower cash wage requirement. If a worker does not meet this definition—perhaps because their tips are sporadic or fall below that monthly amount—the employer must pay them the full minimum wage for all hours worked, without relying on the tip credit provisions. Only the tips the employee actually receives count toward this determination; expected or hypothetical tips do not qualify the position as tipped employment.
Under the FLSA, a tipped employee is an employee engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
The Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers in the Northern Mariana Islands to take a tip credit, which reduces the direct wage they must pay tipped employees. The tip credit equals the difference between what the employer pays directly and the full minimum wage. In the Northern Mariana Islands, the minimum cash wage employers must pay is $2.13 per hour. This means the employer can credit up to $5.12 per hour of the employee's tips toward meeting the full minimum wage obligation. However, the employer must still ensure that the combination of the $2.13 cash wage plus the tip credit equals at least the required minimum wage in each workweek. The tip credit only applies to tips actually received by the employee, and the employer cannot claim a credit that exceeds what the employee actually earns in tips during the work period.
An employer must pay a tipped worker at least $2.13 per hour under the FLSA. An employer can take an FLSA tip credit equal to the difference between the direct wage, or the cash wage it pays directly to the tipped employee, and the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25 per hour. The maximum tip credit that an employer can currently claim is $5.12 per hour: ($7.25 - $2.13 direct (or cash) wage = $5.12).
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
Even with a tip credit, employers in the Northern Mariana Islands have a backstop obligation: they must ensure tipped employees receive at least the full minimum wage in every workweek. If an employee's tips combined with the employer's direct cash wages do not equal the required minimum hourly wage in a given workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This protection applies week by week, so a slow period with low tips does not shift the shortfall to the worker. The employer cannot average good weeks against bad weeks or require the employee to absorb the gap. This rule ensures that the tip credit system does not leave tipped workers in the Northern Mariana Islands earning less than the minimum wage, regardless of how much customers actually leave in tips.
If an employee’s tips combined with the employer’s direct (or cash) wages do not equal the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 per hour in each workweek, the employer must make up the difference.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
Before an employer in the Northern Mariana Islands can take a tip credit, it must give the tipped employee specific information. The employer must tell the employee the amount of the direct cash wage being paid, which must be at least $2.13 per hour. The employer must also disclose the additional amount claimed as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12, and explain that this credit cannot exceed the tips actually received. The notice must inform the employee that all tips received belong to the employee except for valid tip pool contributions, and that the tip credit will not apply unless the employee has been informed of these provisions. This notice can be oral or written, but if the employer fails to provide it, the employer loses the right to take the tip credit entirely and must pay the full minimum wage without counting tips.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA: the amount of the direct (or cash) wage the employer is paying a tipped employee, which must be at least $2.13 per hour; the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $5.12 (the difference between the minimum required direct (or cash) wage of $2.13 and the current minimum wage of $7.25);
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
When federal and territorial rules differ, employers in the Northern Mariana Islands must follow whichever standard provides the greatest protection to employees. This means that if a local law requires a higher cash wage than $2.13 per hour, or imposes stricter conditions on taking a tip credit, the employer must comply with that more protective standard rather than the federal minimum. Some jurisdictions prohibit tip credits entirely or set higher direct wage floors, and in those cases the federal rules do not override the local requirements. For workers in the Northern Mariana Islands, this interaction principle ensures that the most favorable wage protection applies, whether it comes from federal law or from territorial or local regulations that go beyond the FLSA baseline.
When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
The Fair Labor Standards Act is clear: employers in the Northern Mariana Islands, including managers and supervisors, cannot keep any portion of employees' tips. This prohibition applies whether or not the employer takes a tip credit. An employer may not require a tipped employee to hand over their tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager, even if the employer pays the full minimum wage directly and takes no tip credit at all. The rule applies whether the employer tries to take the tips directly or attempts to do so indirectly through a tip pool arrangement. This protection ensures that tips belong to the workers who earn them from customers, and that management cannot divert those earnings for any purpose, including covering business expenses or supplementing other employees' wages.
Regardless of whether an employer takes a tip credit, the FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees’ tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
When an employer in the Northern Mariana Islands takes a tip credit, it can require tipped employees to contribute to a tip pool, but that pool must be traditional. This means the pool is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, bussers, service bartenders, bellhops, and counter personnel who serve customers. The employer cannot include workers who do not typically receive tips in the occupation, such as cooks, dishwashers, or janitors, in a traditional tip pool when taking a tip credit. The employer must notify tipped employees of any required contribution amount, can only take a tip credit for what each employee ultimately receives after the pool distribution, and cannot retain any portion of the pooled tips. This structure protects tipped workers from subsidizing back-of-house staff through mandatory contributions.
An employer that takes a tip credit can require tipped employees to contribute tips only to a tip pool which is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), bussers, and service bartenders.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
Doing two jobs for one employer
When an employee in the Northern Mariana Islands works two different jobs for the same employer, the tip credit rules apply only to the job where tips are regularly received. For example, if a hotel maintenance worker also works as a server and customarily receives at least $30 a month in tips for server work, that person is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. The employer cannot take a tip credit for hours worked in the maintenance occupation, where tips are not customarily received. The worker must receive at least the full minimum wage for all hours spent on non-tipped work. This dual job protection prevents employers from using the lower tipped wage for time spent in occupations that do not traditionally generate tips, ensuring that the tip credit applies narrowly to the specific tipped occupation only.
In such a situation the employee, if they customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for their work as a server, is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
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 Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)
- Minimum cash wage
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands $7.25 $5.12 $2.13 More than $30