Tip credit calculator
Slow week, and $2.13 an hour plus tips didn’t add up to much? Enter your hours, cash wage and tips to see whether you reached your state’s minimum wage, or how much your employer has to make up.
In effect on September 20, 2026
Result
Your employer has to add
$53.60| Minimum wage for 30 h at $7.25 | $217.50 |
|---|---|
| Your cash wages: 30 h at $2.13 | $63.90 |
| Your tips | $100.00 |
| Employer top-up | $53.60 |
| Your total for the week | $217.50 |
That’s $7.25 an hour, tips included.
Federal law checks this over the whole workweek, not shift by shift.
How the tip credit works
In most states, employers can pay tipped workers less than the minimum wage, down to the tipped cash wage, and count your tips towards the rest. If your wages plus tips for the workweek come to less than the minimum wage for all the hours you worked, your employer has to pay the difference.
Questions
What is the tip credit?
Is it checked per shift or per week?
Which states don’t allow a tip credit?
Can my employer keep part of my tips?
General information, not legal advice. Your state labor department has the final word, and some cities, counties and industries have higher minimums.
Do this math every week, without the calculator.
Log your tips before you leave each shift. PayJar adds up the week and shows what your employer has to make up.
Coming soon to the App Store and Google Play