2023 Pennsylvania Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2023 Pennsylvania Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.83.
Effective 2023-01-01Source: Minimum Wage Law Summary (LLC-1) (Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2022
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2022.
| Item | 2022 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.83 | $2.83 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Pennsylvania subject to the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act
What changed this year, and why
Pennsylvania's tipped minimum cash wage for 2023
Common questions
- What is the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Pennsylvania in 2023?
- The minimum cash wage is $2.83 per hour.
- Did the tipped cash wage change from 2022 to 2023?
- No. The minimum cash wage for tipped employees was $2.83 per hour in 2022 and remains $2.83 per hour in 2023.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Pennsylvania, a tipped employee is anyone who works in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This definition comes from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which sets the baseline for tipped workers nationwide. If your job regularly generates that level of tip income, your employer may pay you a lower direct cash wage and count your tips toward meeting the minimum wage obligation. The definition matters because it determines whether the special tipped-employee rules apply to you at all. If you do not meet this threshold, your employer must pay you the full minimum wage without relying on a tip credit.
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
Pennsylvania employers who take a tip credit must pay tipped workers a direct cash wage and can count a portion of the employee's tips toward the minimum wage obligation. Under federal law, an employer can take a 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 is $5.12 per hour, which means the minimum cash wage under federal law is $2.13. However, Pennsylvania requires a higher cash wage of $2.83 per hour for tipped employees. Your employer must still ensure that your cash wages plus your tips equal at least $7.25 per hour in every workweek. If they don't, the employer must make up the shortfall.
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
Pennsylvania employers who claim a tip credit must verify each workweek that tipped employees actually receive the full minimum wage when cash wages and tips are combined. 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. This means that in slow weeks when tips are low, your employer cannot simply pay you the reduced cash wage and leave you short. The employer has an affirmative obligation to track your total compensation and add enough money to bring you up to $7.25 per hour. This protection applies regardless of how much you typically earn in tips or whether the shortfall is due to business conditions, customer generosity, or seasonal fluctuations.
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 taking a tip credit, Pennsylvania employers must give tipped employees specific information about how the tip credit works. Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA: the cash wage amount, the tip credit amount claimed, confirmation that the credit cannot exceed actual tips received, notice about valid tip pooling arrangements, and a statement that the credit will not apply unless the employee has been informed of these provisions. This notice can be given orally or in writing. If your employer fails to provide all of this information, it cannot legally take the tip credit at all, which means it must pay you the full minimum wage without counting your tips toward that obligation. This requirement ensures you understand how your compensation is being calculated.
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); that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee; that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
When Pennsylvania law differs from federal law, employers must comply with the standard most protective to employees. For example, if state law requires a higher cash wage than the federal minimum cash wage of $2.83 per hour, the employer must pay the higher state amount. Some states prohibit tip credits entirely, requiring employers to pay the full minimum wage in cash regardless of tips. In Pennsylvania, employers must follow whichever rule—state or federal—gives workers more money or better protections. This means you are entitled to the better of the two standards, not the worse. If Pennsylvania law changes to require a higher cash wage or restricts tip credits, your employer must follow the state rule even if federal law would allow a lower wage or larger tip credit.
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
Pennsylvania employers, including managers and supervisors, cannot take any portion of tipped employees' tips for any reason. 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. This means your boss cannot dip into your tip jar, require you to hand over tips, or use your tips to cover business expenses, even if you are earning well above minimum wage. The rule applies absolutely - managers and supervisors have no legal claim to tips earned by tipped employees. This protection exists to ensure that tips remain the property of the workers who earn them from customers, not the business owners or their representatives who manage the operation.
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
Pennsylvania employers who take a tip credit can only require tipped employees to participate in traditional tip pools that include workers in similar occupations. A tip pool which is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips ensures that your tips are shared only with workers who also depend on tip income, such as bussers, service bartenders, and other waitstaff. Employers cannot include back-of-house workers like cooks or dishwashers in these traditional tip pools if the employer is taking a tip credit. If your employer implements such a pool, it must notify you of the required contribution amount and can only take a tip credit for the tips you actually keep after the pool distribution. The employer cannot retain any portion of the pooled tips for itself.
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
Pennsylvania workers who hold two different jobs for the same employer are only considered tipped employees for the job where they regularly receive tips. For example, if you work as both a maintenance worker and a server at the same hotel, is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server if you customarily and regularly receive at least $30 a month in tips for that server work. Your employer can take a tip credit for your hours worked as a server, but must pay you the full minimum wage for all hours worked as a maintenance person. The two jobs are treated separately - tips earned as a server cannot be used to reduce the wage owed for maintenance hours. This prevents employers from using tip income from one role to subsidize wages in a completely different occupation where tips are not customary.
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 Wage Law Summary (LLC-1) (Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry)
- Minimum cash wage
An employer may pay a minimum of $2.83
Other years
Every Pennsylvania Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state