Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage 2026
Current year
The 2026 Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2026-01-01Source: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (DOL)Verified 2026-08-30
Compared with 2025
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2025.
| Item | 2025 | 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped employees in Virginia. 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 Virginia. 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 Virginia 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 Virginia. 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
Under federal law, a worker in Virginia counts as a tipped employee when they are engaged in an occupation where they customarily and regularly bring in more than $30 a month in tips. That $30-a-month threshold is the only dollar figure in the definition — it is not tied to any particular hourly rate. If a Virginia employee's tips fall below that amount in a given month, the employer cannot treat them as tipped for that period and must pay them the full minimum wage without relying on a tip credit. The definition applies to any occupation in which tipping is customary and regular, such as server, bartender, or bellhop. It does not matter whether the tips arrive in cash, on a credit card, or through a digital platform; all tips the worker actually receives are counted when deciding whether they meet the $30-a-month line and when the employer applies its 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
In Virginia, the federal tip credit lets an employer count a portion of a tipped employee's tips toward the minimum wage obligation, so long as the employer pays a direct cash wage of at least $2.13 per hour. The tip credit is equal to the difference between that cash wage and the federal minimum wage. The maximum tip credit currently available is the gap between $2.13 and the full federal minimum wage. Even with the credit in place, the employer must be able to show that the employee's cash wage plus tips received together reach at least the full minimum wage in every workweek. Only tips the employee actually received count toward this calculation. If the combination of cash wages and tips falls short in any workweek, the employer is required to make up the difference so the employee earns at least the minimum hourly wage.
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 Virginia, employers who take a tip credit must verify every workweek that a tipped employee's cash wage plus tips actually received add up to at least the full minimum hourly wage. If the employee's tips combined with the employer's direct (or cash) wages do not equal the minimum hourly wage in a given workweek, the employer must make up the difference. This is not an annual or average calculation — the employer must ensure the floor is met each and every week. The responsibility falls entirely on the employer; the employee cannot be left with sub-minimum earnings even in a slow week. The employer bears the risk of a tip shortfall and must pay whatever additional amount is needed to bring the employee's total compensation up to the required hourly minimum.
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 Virginia, before an employer may take a tip credit against a tipped employee's wages, it must give the employee specific information. Employers must provide the following information to tipped employees before taking a tip credit under the FLSA: the cash wage being paid (at least $2.13 per hour), the tip credit amount claimed, the fact that the credit cannot exceed the tips actually received, the employee's right to retain all tips except through a valid tip pool, and the notice that the credit will not apply unless the employee has been informed of these provisions. The notice may be given orally or in writing. An employer that fails to give this information simply cannot claim the tip credit at all — the full minimum wage must be paid without regard to 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); 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
In Virginia, the federal tip-credit rules under the FLSA set a floor, not a ceiling. When state law differs from the federal FLSA, an employer must comply with the standard most protective to employees. Virginia may, for example, require a higher cash wage than the federal direct (or cash) wage of $2.13 per hour, or it may prohibit the taking of a tip credit altogether. Where both federal and Virginia law apply, the employer must follow whichever rule leaves the employee better off — the higher cash wage, the larger tip credit limitation, or the stricter notice requirement. An employer cannot rely on the more permissive federal standard when Virginia law gives tipped workers greater protections.
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 Virginia, the FLSA prohibits employers from keeping any portion of employees' tips for any purpose, whether directly or through a tip pool. This rule applies regardless of whether the employer takes a tip credit at all. An employer may not require a tipped employee to hand over tips to the employer, a supervisor, or a manager — even in a week where the employer pays the full minimum wage from its own funds and claims no tip credit. Managers and supervisors are specifically barred from participating in tip pools or receiving any share of a tipped employee's tips. The purpose is to ensure that tips remain the property of the non-supervisory 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 Virginia, when an employer takes a tip credit, any mandatory tip pool it requires must be a "traditional" tip pool — one that is limited to employees in occupations in which they customarily and regularly receive tips. Eligible participants include waiters, bellhops, counter personnel who serve customers, bussers, and service bartenders. Back-of-house workers who do not customarily receive tips, such as cooks or dishwashers, may not be included in a traditional tip pool if the employer is taking a tip credit. The employer must also notify tipped employees of the required contribution amount, may take a tip credit only for the tips each employee ultimately retains after the pool, and may not keep 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
In Virginia, an employee who works two distinct jobs for the same employer — for example, a hotel maintenance worker who also serves as a server — is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. The employer may take a tip credit only for the hours the employee spends in the tipped occupation. For all hours worked in the non-tipped occupation, no tip credit is allowed and the employer must pay at least the full minimum wage. This rule prevents an employer from applying the lower cash wage to time spent doing entirely different work. It is distinguishable from related duties that are part of the tipped occupation itself, such as a server cleaning and setting tables or making coffee, which are still considered tipped-employee work.
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
Virginia $12.77 $10.64 $2.13 More than $30