Tip-credit checker

Enter cash wage, average tips per hour, and hours worked. The tool shows whether your combined wage meets the state minimum, and if not, how much make-up wage the employer owes for the period.

StateCash wage paid ($/hr)Tips averaged ($/hr)Hours worked in period

Result

Meets combined-wage minimum

Combined wage: $10.13 per hour
State minimum: $7.25 per hour

Worked example: Texas server

A Texas server paid the $2.13 cash wage who averages $7.50 in tips per hour reaches a combined wage of $9.63 per hour, which exceeds Texas's $7.25 minimum. No make-up is due. If that same server has a slow lunch shift and tips drop to $4.00 per hour, combined wage is $6.13, $1.12 short of $7.25, and the employer owes $1.12 per hour for those tipped hours under FLSA section 3(m).

Method: this tool checks the combined-wage threshold under FLSA section 3(m) and state-level analogs. It does not model tip-pool eligibility, 80/20/30 dual-jobs analysis under the 2021 DOL final rule (29 CFR 531.56), or local-ordinance tipped phase-outs (Chicago, DC).