Puerto Rico Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Current year
The 2026 Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico. 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 Puerto Rico. 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 Puerto Rico 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 Puerto Rico. 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 Puerto Rico, a worker counts as a tipped employee under federal law only if they work in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold is what unlocks the special wage rules that apply to tipped workers. If a worker in Puerto Rico receives tips but those tips fall below $30 in a typical month, or if the tips are sporadic rather than customary, they are not classified as a tipped employee and their employer must pay them the full minimum wage without using any tip credit. The occupation itself must be one where tipping is customary and regular; occasional tips in a non-tipping occupation do not qualify a worker for tipped-employee status.
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
In Puerto Rico, employers can claim a tip credit that bridges the gap between what they pay you directly in cash wages and the full minimum wage. Your employer must pay you at least $2.13 per hour in direct wages, and can count your tips toward meeting the full minimum wage obligation. This means your total compensation—cash wages plus tips—must reach at least the applicable minimum wage for every hour you work. If your tips are substantial, your employer's direct wage obligation remains at the minimum cash wage level.
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.
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In Puerto Rico, if your tips combined with your employer's direct cash wages don't reach the full minimum wage for any workweek, your employer must pay you the shortfall. This protection applies every single workweek, not just on average over time. Your employer cannot use good weeks to offset bad weeks—each workweek stands on its own. This ensures that tipped workers in Puerto Rico receive at least the full minimum wage regardless of how much customers tip.
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
In Puerto Rico, before your employer can claim a tip credit and pay you the lower cash wage, they must give you specific information about how your wages will be calculated. This notice must include the amount of cash wage your employer is paying you, the amount of tip credit they're claiming, and confirmation that the tip credit cannot exceed the difference between the cash wage and the full minimum wage. Your employer must provide this information before taking the tip credit—not after. If they fail to give you proper notice, they cannot legally claim the tip credit and must pay you the full minimum wage directly.
Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA:
Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (DOL)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In Puerto Rico, when federal and local wage laws conflict, employers must follow whichever rule provides greater protection to workers. If Puerto Rico law requires a higher cash wage than the federal minimum or offers stronger tip protections, your employer must comply with the more favorable standard. This means you're entitled to whichever combination of wages and protections is better for you—not just the federal baseline. Always check both federal and Puerto Rico requirements, because the more protective rule applies to your situation.
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
In Puerto Rico, your employer, managers, and supervisors cannot keep any portion of your tips under any circumstances. This rule applies whether or not your employer claims a tip credit. Your tips belong to you, and no one higher up the chain can require you to hand them over or use them for business expenses. Even if your employer pays you the full minimum wage directly and takes no tip credit, they still cannot touch your tips. This protection ensures that tips remain compensation for the workers who earned them from customers.
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
In Puerto Rico, if your employer claims a tip credit, they can only require you to contribute tips to a pool that includes workers who customarily and regularly receive tips in their occupations. This means the pool must be limited to traditional tipped positions like servers, bussers, and bartenders—not back-of-house staff who don't typically receive tips. Your employer can only take a tip credit based on the tips you actually keep after the pool distribution, and they must notify you of any required pool contribution amounts.
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
In Puerto Rico, if you work two different jobs for the same employer—one where you receive tips and one where you don't—you're only considered a tipped employee for the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. For example, if you work as both a maintenance worker and a server, your employer can only claim a tip credit for the hours you actually work as a server. They cannot apply the tip credit to your maintenance hours. Each job must be evaluated separately based on whether you receive tips in that specific role.
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
Puerto Rico $10.50 $8.37 $2.13 More than $30