2017 Texas Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2017 Texas Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2017-01-01Source: Texas Guidebook for Employers: Especially for Texas Employers (Texas Workforce Commission)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2016
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2016.
| Item | 2016 | 2017 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Texas employers who take a tip credit against the wages of tipped employees
What changed this year, and why
Texas's minimum cash wage for tipped employees was $2.13 per hour in 2017.
Common questions
- What was the minimum cash wage for tipped employees in Texas in 2017?
- In 2017 a Texas employer that took a tip credit had to pay a tipped employee a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. Texas adopts the federal minimum wage, so the tip credit an employer may claim is the difference between that cash wage and the federal minimum wage.
- What happens if tips do not bring a tipped employee in Texas up to the minimum wage?
- The employer must make up the difference. A cash wage of $2.13 per hour plus the tips the employee actually receives has to equal at least the applicable minimum wage for every hour worked, and where it does not the employer owes the balance.
Who counts as a tipped employee
In Texas, a tipped employee is anyone who works in an occupation where they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. This threshold determines whether the employer may pay the lower cash wage of $2.13 per hour and take a tip credit. If you earn less than $30 monthly in tips, or if tips are not a regular part of your occupation, you are not classified as a tipped employee under this rule and your employer must pay you the full minimum wage. The $30 monthly amount is not a cap on what you can earn in tips—it is simply the line that separates tipped employees from non-tipped employees for purposes of the tip credit provisions.
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 Texas, the tip credit lets your employer count a portion of your tips toward its minimum wage obligation. Your employer must pay you at least $2.13 per hour in cash wages, and can claim a tip credit equal to the difference between that direct wage and the federal minimum wage. The employer must ensure that your cash wages plus your tips together reach at least the full minimum wage in every workweek. Only tips you actually receive count toward this calculation.
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.
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 Texas, if your tips combined with your employer's cash wages do not add up to the full minimum wage in any workweek, your employer must make up the difference. This guarantee applies to every single workweek, not just to an average over a pay period or a month. The employer bears the risk that your tips might be low in a slow week and must top up your pay to reach the minimum wage threshold before taking any tip credit for that week.
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 Texas, before your employer can take a tip credit against your wages, it must give you notice of specific information. This includes the amount of the direct cash wage it is paying you, which must be at least $2.13 per hour, the additional amount it is claiming as a tip credit, that the tip credit cannot exceed the tips you actually receive, that all tips you receive are yours to keep, and that the tip credit will not apply unless you have been informed of these provisions. The notice can be oral or written, but if the employer fails to provide it, it cannot take the tip credit at all.
Notice to Tipped Employees: 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 Texas, when state law provides greater protections than federal law, employers must comply with the standard most protective to employees. This means that if Texas law requires a higher cash wage than the federal minimum or places additional restrictions on the tip credit, your employer must follow whichever rule gives you more money or stronger protections. The federal rule is only a floor, not a ceiling, and Texas workers are entitled to the more generous standard whenever the two levels of law conflict.
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)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In Texas, when your employer takes a tip credit, it can require you to contribute your tips only to a traditional tip pool that is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. This includes waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. The pool cannot include back-of-house workers who do not customarily receive tips, such as cooks or dishwashers. Your employer must notify you of any required contribution amount and may only take a tip credit for the tips you ultimately retain after the pool is distributed.
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 Texas, if you work two distinct jobs for the same employer, you are a tipped employee only with respect to the job where you customarily and regularly receive tips. For example, a hotel maintenance worker who also serves as a server is a tipped employee only for the server work. No tip credit can be taken for the hours you work in the non-tipped occupation, and your employer must pay you the full minimum wage for those hours. The two jobs must be genuinely separate occupations, not just different tasks within a single tipped job.
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.
Texas Guidebook for Employers: Especially for Texas Employers (Texas Workforce Commission)
- Minimum cash wage
The FLSA sets minimum wage levels (minimum wage of $7.25 per hour (the Texas minimum wage is the same), a minimum cash wage of $2.13 per hour for tipped employees, overtime pay at one and a half times the regular rate of pay, and a minimum salary level of $684 per week for salaried exempt employees)
Other years
Every Texas Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state