2018 West Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage
The 2018 West Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage is $2.62.
Effective 2018-01-01Source: Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)Verified 2026-09-01
Compared with 2017
Every figure on this page is unchanged from 2017.
| Item | 2017 | 2018 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum cash wage | $2.62 | $2.62 | +$0 (+0.0%) |
Who it applies to
Employers of tipped service employees in West Virginia covered by the state minimum wage
What changed this year, and why
The minimum cash wage for tipped employees in West Virginia is $2.62 per hour. This reflects the state's tip credit against the full minimum wage.
Common questions
- What is the tipped minimum cash wage in West Virginia?
- West Virginia allows employers a tip credit against the full state minimum wage. Employers may pay tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, provided that the cash wage plus reported tips together equal the full state minimum wage per hour. If the combined total falls short, the employer must make up the difference.
Who counts as a tipped employee
West Virginia's minimum wage law allows employers to take a tip credit for workers who receive tips. This means employers can pay a lower cash wage to tipped employees, specifically $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee's cash wage plus their reported tips add up to at least the full state minimum wage. The law refers to these workers as "tipped employees" or "service employees that receive tips," but this particular document does not provide a specific definition of who qualifies as a tipped employee or what threshold of tip income is required. For detailed information about who counts as a tipped employee under West Virginia law, you would need to consult additional resources or contact the West Virginia Division of Labor directly.
West Virginia’s minimum wage standards allow employers a 70% credit against the minimum wage requirement for their service employees that receive tips. That means an employer may pay his or her tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee’s hourly cash rate, plus reported tips, equal $8.75 per hour.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
What a tip credit is, and the cash wage underneath it
In West Virginia, the tip credit is the difference between the direct wage your employer pays you and the full minimum wage. Your employer may pay you a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as your hourly cash rate plus reported tips equal $8.75 per hour. This means your employer takes a credit against the minimum wage requirement based on the tips you receive. The system is designed so that your total compensation—your cash wage plus your tips—reaches the minimum wage floor. If your employer uses this arrangement, they are counting on your tips to make up the gap between $2.62 and the minimum wage. You must report your tips for this system to work, and your employer must have written records of those tips to claim the credit in the first place.
That means an employer may pay his or her tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee’s hourly cash rate, plus reported tips, equal $8.75 per hour.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
When the tips do not get you to the minimum wage
In West Virginia, if your tips don't bring your total hourly earnings up to the state minimum wage of $8.75 per hour, your employer is required to make up the difference. Even though your employer may pay you the lower cash wage of $2.62 per hour and claim a tip credit, they cannot use this arrangement to pay you less than minimum wage. The law requires that your cash wage plus your reported tips must equal at least $8.75 per hour. If in any work period your tips fall short and your total compensation is below this threshold, your employer must increase your pay to reach the minimum wage. This protection ensures that the tip credit system does not result in you earning less than the minimum wage, regardless of how much you actually receive in tips from customers.
as long as the employee’s hourly cash rate, plus reported tips, equal $8.75 per hour.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
The notice an employer owes you before it takes the credit
In West Virginia, before your employer can take a tip credit and pay you the lower cash wage, they must have written tip records completed by you as the employee. This documentation requirement ensures that the tip credit arrangement is based on actual reported tips, not assumptions. If your employer does not have these written tip records, they cannot claim the tip credit and must instead pay you the full minimum wage. This rule protects you by requiring your employer to maintain proper records of your tip income before they are allowed to pay you less than the full minimum wage. Without your written tip records, the employer loses the right to use the tip credit arrangement entirely.
In order to take a credit against the minimum wage for tips, the employer must have written tip records completed by the employee. If such tip records were not provided, the employer would have to pay the employee the full minimum wage of $8.75 per hour.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
When state law gives more than the federal rule
In West Virginia, when both state and federal minimum wage laws could apply, you are entitled to whichever standard gives you more protection. The state law requires employers to have at least six employees at your work location for state minimum wage requirements to apply. If that requirement is not met, the federal tip credit of $2.13 per hour may apply instead. This means different tipped workers in West Virginia might be covered by different rules depending on their employer's size and location. The principle is that you always receive the most favorable treatment available under either state or federal law, ensuring you get the highest wage protection that applies to your specific work situation.
Should the employer not meet the condition of having six employees at any one separate, distinct and permanent work location to fall under state minimum wage requirements, the federal tip credit of $2.13 per hour may apply.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Your employer, your manager and your supervisor may not keep your tips
In West Virginia, your employer, managers, and supervisors are prohibited from keeping any portion of your tips. The law is clear that tips belong to you, the employee who received them from customers. While employers may pay tipped employees a lower cash wage and claim a tip credit, this does not give them any right to take a share of your tips. The tip credit system assumes you keep all your tips, which combined with the cash wage must reach the minimum wage. If your employer takes any portion of your tips for themselves, they violate this rule. Your tips are your income, and no part of them can be kept by management or supervisors under any circumstances. This protection applies regardless of whether tips are pooled or shared among eligible employees.
Under no circumstances may the employer receive a share of any tips.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
Which tip pools you can be made to join
In West Virginia, tip pools or tip sharing arrangements are limited to only those employees who are eligible to receive tips. This means only workers who customarily receive tips from customers—like servers, bartenders, and similar service positions—can be included in a tip pool. The law does not allow employers to include employees who do not typically receive tips, such as cooks, dishwashers, or janitorial staff, in the tip sharing arrangement. Additionally, employers are strictly prohibited from taking any share of the tips for themselves, even through a tip pool. This rule ensures that tips remain with the service workers who directly interact with customers and rely on tips as part of their compensation, while preventing employers from using tip pooling to redistribute tips to non-tipped workers or to themselves.
Only those employees that are eligible to receive tips may be included in a tip pool, or tip sharing situation.
Minimum Wage FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
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 FAQ (West Virginia Division of Labor)
- Minimum cash wage
That means an employer may pay his or her tipped employees a cash wage of $2.62 per hour, as long as the employee’s hourly cash rate, plus reported tips, equal $8.75 per hour.
Other years
Every West Virginia Tipped Minimum Wage year · Tipped Minimum Wage in every state