CashoutTipped minimum wage / Idaho
Idaho tipped minimum wage
What employers must pay
In Idaho, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. An employer can pay a tipped employee as little as $3.35 an hour in cash, as long as tips bring the total to at least $7.25. The difference, $3.90, is the tip credit.
Who counts as a tipped employee: more than $30 a month in tips.
If your cash wage plus tips comes up short of $7.25 an hour in a workweek, your employer has to make up the difference.
What changes next
No change to the Idaho minimum wage is scheduled. Idaho's minimum follows the federal rate, so it changes only if Congress changes it.
Tip pooling and service charges
Only the tips a worker actually keeps after a tip pool count toward the tip credit, and the employer must prove the tips received. Otherwise federal pooling rules apply: managers, supervisors and the employer may not keep tips.
Overtime
Idaho has no state overtime law, so federal rules apply: time and a half after 40 hours a week, with no daily overtime. Tipped overtime is figured on the full $7.25 minimum, not the $3.35 cash wage.
Taxes on your tips
Idaho 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 Idaho's minimum of $7.25 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 Idaho Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Section: how to file. You can also call the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, at 1-866-487-9243.
