2025 Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2025 Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.13.
Effective 2025-01-01Source: 2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2024
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2024.
| Item | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.13 | $2.13 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers in Virginia who pay tipped employees — workers who regularly receive tips — may take a tip credit and pay a cash wage of $2.13 per hour, provided the employee's cash wages plus tips together meet or exceed the full Virginia minimum wage. If tips are insufficient, the employer must make up the difference.
What changed this year, and why
Virginia's tipped minimum cash wage remains at the federal level of $2.13 per hour for 2025, as established under the tip credit provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum cash wage in Virginia for 2025?
- The minimum cash wage an employer may pay a tipped employee in Virginia is $2.13 per hour.
- Does the employer have to make sure the employee earns the full minimum wage?
- Yes. If the employee's cash wages plus tips do not reach the full Virginia minimum wage, the employer must pay the difference.
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 Virginia, a tipped employee is someone who regularly receives more than $30.00 a month in tips. This definition comes from the Fair Labor Standards Act's tip credit provisions and applies to workers like servers, bartenders, and others in service industries where gratuities are customary. If you meet this threshold in Virginia, your employer may pay you the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour instead of the full state minimum wage, but only if certain conditions are met. The key point is that the $30.00 monthly tip threshold determines whether you qualify as a tipped employee under the law. This definition matters because it establishes which workers can be paid the lower cash wage and which workers must receive the full minimum wage from their employer from the start.
Under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees (those who regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips) may be paid at the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
Virginia follows the Fair Labor Standards Act's tip credit provisions, which allow employers to pay tipped employees a cash wage of $2.13 per hour instead of the full minimum wage. This lower cash wage is only permitted when the employee regularly receives tips. The tip credit represents the difference between this reduced cash wage and the full minimum wage that would otherwise be owed. In Virginia, this means an employer can count a portion of the employee's tips toward meeting the minimum wage obligation, but only if the employee qualifies as a tipped worker. The employer must still ensure that the combination of the $2.13 cash wage plus the tips received equals at least the full minimum wage for every hour worked. If the tips fall short, the employer must make up the difference to reach the required minimum.
Under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees (those who regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips) may be paid at the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
Virginia allows employers to pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour, as long as those employees regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips. But the law does not let employers use the tip credit to push a worker's total pay below the state minimum wage of $12.41 per hour. Every pay period, an employer must add together the cash wage paid and the tips actually received. If that combined total falls short of $12.41 per hour, the employer must make up the difference out of its own funds so the worker takes home at least $12.41 for every hour worked. In practice, a server whose tips are light in a given week still walks away with the full state minimum wage, because the restaurant is required to cover whatever gap the tips left open.
Under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees (those who regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips) may be paid at the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour. However, an employee’s hourly wages plus tips must meet the Virginia minimum wage rate of $12.41 per hour. If they do not, an employer must pay the difference to an employee so that they earn at least $12.41 per hour.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
Virginia law requires employers to give tipped workers notice before using a tip credit. The Fair Labor Standards Act sets out specific information that must be shared with employees before the employer can pay the reduced cash wage of $2.13 per hour. This notice explains that the employer is taking a tip credit, describes the cash wage being paid, states the amount of the tip credit, and confirms that all tips belong to the employee. Until this information is provided, the employer cannot count tips toward meeting the minimum wage obligation and must pay the full minimum wage from the start. Virginia workers who have not received this notice from their employer may be owed the difference between the cash wage they received and the full minimum wage for every hour worked during the period when notice was missing.
Under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees (those who regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips) may be paid at the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
Virginia follows the Fair Labor Standards Act's rule that employers, managers, and supervisors may not keep any portion of an employee's tips. Tips belong to the worker who earned them, regardless of whether the employer pays the full minimum wage or uses the tip credit to pay the reduced cash wage of $2.13 per hour. Even when the employer participates in a tip pool or helps distribute tips among staff, the employer cannot take a share for itself or allow managers and supervisors to keep any portion. This protection applies to Virginia workers in restaurants, bars, hotels, and other tipped industries. If an employer violates this rule, the affected employee may be entitled to recover the tips that were improperly taken, in addition to any other wages owed.
Under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees (those who regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips) may be paid at the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
Virginia follows federal rules on tip pooling. When an employer uses the tip credit and pays the reduced cash wage of $2.13 per hour, any tip pool must be limited to employees who work in occupations where they customarily and regularly receive tips. This means a Virginia restaurant that takes a tip credit can only require servers, bartenders, and other traditionally tipped staff to share their tips with each other. Non-tipped workers like cooks, dishwashers, and janitors cannot be included in a traditional tip pool when the employer is using the tip credit. If an employer includes non-tipped employees in the pool while paying the reduced cash wage, the employer loses the right to take the tip credit and must pay the full minimum wage to all participating workers.
Under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees (those who regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips) may be paid at the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
Doing two jobs for one employer
In Virginia, when an employee works in two different roles for the same employer—one that involves regular tips and one that does not—the employee counts as a tipped employee only during the time spent in the tipped occupation. For example, a worker who spends part of the day serving customers and part of the day doing prep work in the kitchen is a tipped employee only with respect to their employment as a server. When performing the non-tipped duties, the employer must pay the full minimum wage and cannot apply the tip credit or the reduced cash wage of $2.13 per hour. Virginia workers who split their time between tipped and non-tipped jobs should track their hours in each role to confirm they are being paid correctly for the non-tipped portion of their work.
Under the “tip credit” provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, tipped employees (those who regularly receive more than $30.00 a month in tips) may be paid at the tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
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.
2025 Virginia Minimum Wage Poster (Virginia Department of Labor and Industry)
- Minimum cash wage
tipped minimum wage of $2.13 per hour.
Other years
Every Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state