U.S. Minimum Wage

The Fair Labor Standards Act requires that employers pay employees who are not exempt from the act at least a government-mandated minimum wage rate.

Federal Minimum Wage: $5.15 per hour (effective September 1, 1997). (See http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/wages/minimumwage.htm.)

NOTE FOR TIPPED EMPLOYEES: Tipped employees are those who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips. The employer may consider tips as part of wages, but such a wage credit must not exceed 50 percent of the minimum wage.

The employer who elects to use the tip credit provisions must inform the employee in advance and must be able to show that the employee receives at least the minimum wage when direct wages and the tip credit allowance are combined. Also, employees must retain all of their tips, except to the extent that they participate in a valid tip pooling or sharing arrangement.

See State or U.S. Territory