CashoutTipped minimum wage / New Jersey
New Jersey tipped minimum wage
What employers must pay
In New Jersey, the minimum wage is $15.92 an hour. An employer can pay a tipped employee as little as $6.05 an hour in cash, as long as tips bring the total to at least $15.92. The difference, $9.87, is the tip credit.
Employers with fewer than 6 employees and seasonal employers pay a lower $15.23 minimum, and farm and long-term care workers have their own rates.
Who counts as a tipped employee: more than $30 a month in tips (only tips the worker keeps count, not tips passed on through a pool).
If your cash wage plus tips comes up short of $15.92 an hour in a workweek, your employer has to make up the difference.
What changes next
On January 1, 2027, the minimum wage goes to $16.48 and the tipped cash wage to $6.61. The state announced this rate on September 29, 2026. Small and seasonal employers go to $16.25.
Tip pooling and service charges
A valid tip pool is limited to tipped employees. The employer may not keep any tips or give them to non-tipped staff, and must tell workers any required pool contribution.
A mandatory service charge is not a tip under New Jersey law, and employers may not use tips to pay any part of credit card processing fees.
Overtime
Time and a half after 40 hours in a week. For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, and your employer can't take a bigger tip credit for an overtime hour than for a regular hour.
Taxes on your tips
New Jersey 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 New Jersey's minimum of $15.92 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 New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance: how to file. You can also call the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, at 1-866-487-9243.
