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Am I Owed Minimum Wage If I Am a Tipped Worker?Client-Focused & Passionate Representation

Am I Owed Minimum Wage If I Am a Tipped Worker?

Tips2

Many types of workers in Florida are tipped employees, meaning that they are “engaged in an occupation in which they customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips,” according to the US Department of Labor. Employers in Palm Beach Gardens and throughout South Florida employ tipped workers because it allows them to “take a tip credit” toward the minimum wage and overtime requirements set forth in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It is then the job of the employer to ensure that tipped employees earn at least the minimum wage and are appropriately compensated for overtime by the amount of their tips.

To be clear, tipped employees are owed minimum wage under the FLSA. A Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour attorney can explain how this works.

Your Tips Plus Your Hourly Wage Must Add Up to the State’s Minimum Wage

As a tipped employee, you are owed minimum wage under the FLSA. How does this work?

The FLSA requires a minimum wage of at least $2.13 per hour for tipped employees, and a federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. However, Florida has set hire minimum wage laws for employees, and Florida’s state laws are the ones that employers must comply with when they pay employees.

In 2025, the minimum wage for tipped employees in Florida is $9.98 per hour, and the state minimum wage is $13.00 per hour. What this means is that employers with tipped employees are allowed a tip credit of $3.02 per hour for their tipped employees, but those employers must ensure that the overall earnings of tipped employees (with tips included) come out to at least $13.00 per hour. It is important to know that the minimum wage in Florida is set to rise in September 2025 to $10.98 per hour for tipped employees and $14.00 per hour as the state minimum wage. At that point, employers will be required to pay tipped employees at least $10.98 per hour and will need to ensure that, with tips, tipped employees earn at least $14.00 per hour.

Am I a Tipped Employee?

In order to be a tipped employee as the FLSA defines it, you must “customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips.” If you are in a job where workers are commonly tipped employees but your employment situation does not meet the definition, then you are not a tipped employee.

If your employer is only paying you the hourly wage for a tipped employee but you do not receive tips regularly and customarily, and in an amount to ensure that you earn the Florida minimum wage, then it is critical to seek legal advice.

Contact Our Palm Beach Gardens Wage and Hour Lawyers

Whether you have been misclassified as a tipped employee and are not earning minimum wage, or your tips are not sufficient for you to earn minimum wage, you may be able to file a claim. With help from one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour attorneys at Sconzo Law Office, you may be able to receive additional wages you are owed from your employer.

Sources:

dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/15-tipped-employees-flsa

frla.org/minimum-wage/

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