CashoutTipped minimum wage / Oklahoma
Oklahoma tipped minimum wage
What employers must pay
In Oklahoma, the minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. An employer can pay a tipped employee as little as $2.13 an hour in cash, as long as tips bring the total to at least $7.25. The difference, $5.12, is the tip credit.
Oklahoma's own law covers only employers that federal wage law doesn't, so nearly all tipped workers get the federal $7.25 minimum and $2.13 cash wage.
Who counts as a tipped employee: more than $30 a month in tips (federal rule; state law sets no separate amount).
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 Oklahoma minimum wage is scheduled. Oklahoma follows the federal minimum, so the rate changes only if Congress changes it.
Tip pooling and service charges
Oklahoma has no tip pooling rule of its own, so federal law applies: employers, managers and supervisors may not keep tips, and a mandatory pool that includes tip credit workers may only include staff who customarily and regularly receive tips.
Overtime
Federal rule: time and a half after 40 hours in a workweek, no daily overtime. Tipped overtime is figured on the full $7.25 minimum, then the $5.12 tip credit is subtracted.
Taxes on your tips
Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma'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 Oklahoma Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Unit: how to file. You can also call the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, at 1-866-487-9243.
