CashoutTipped minimum wage / Arkansas
Arkansas tipped minimum wage
What employers must pay
In Arkansas, the minimum wage is $11.00 an hour. An employer can pay a tipped employee as little as $2.63 an hour in cash, as long as tips bring the total to at least $11.00. The difference, $8.37, is the tip credit.
State law covers employers with 4 or more employees. Smaller employers covered by federal wage law must pay at least the federal $7.25, or $2.13 in cash for tipped workers.
Who counts as a tipped employee: no set dollar amount; tips must be a normal part of pay for the job, and you must actually get enough tips to reach the minimum wage.
If your cash wage plus tips comes up short of $11.00 an hour in a workweek, your employer has to make up the difference.
What changes next
No change to the Arkansas minimum wage is scheduled. The rate is not tied to inflation, so it stays at $11.00 until lawmakers or voters change it.
Tip pooling and service charges
No state rule, so federal rules apply: if the employer takes a tip credit, a mandatory pool may include only workers who customarily get tips, such as servers, bussers and service bartenders. Back-of-house staff may join only when everyone is paid the full minimum wage with no tip credit. Employers, managers and supervisors may never keep tips from a pool.
Overtime
1.5 times the regular rate after 40 hours in a week, no daily overtime. Overtime for tipped workers is figured on the full $11.00 minimum wage, not the $2.63 cash wage.
Taxes on your tips
Arkansas taxes wage income, and tips are wages, so its income tax applies to your tips. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare still apply. The federal tip deduction can cut the income tax part: see how the No Tax on Tips deduction works.
Check a week's pay
Enter one workweek to see whether your cash wage plus tips reached Arkansas's minimum of $11.00 an hour.
You reached the minimum this week.
You came up short. Your employer owes you at least
If you are underpaid
Start by comparing your pay stubs with your own record of hours and tips. If the numbers don't add up, you can file a complaint with the Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing, Labor Standards Section: how to file. You can also call the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, at 1-866-487-9243.
