Under federal rules (29 CFR 531.56), if you work two different jobs for one employer and only one of them earns tips, the employer can take a tip credit only for your hours in the tipped job. Say you serve on weekends and wash dishes on Tuesdays. The dish shifts must be paid at least the full minimum wage.
Side work is less clear-cut. Tasks that support your tipped job, like rolling silverware or wiping tables, have generally been treated as part of it. Where that line sits has shifted in recent years. A 2021 federal rule, often called the 80/20 rule, limited how much time could go to that work, but a federal appeals court vacated it in 2024, so it is not current federal law.
Some states have their own limits. New York and Connecticut bar the tip credit on a day with too much non-tipped work, measured in hours and share of the shift. Pennsylvania and West Virginia use 20 percent of the workweek. Check your state page, and if a large part of your shift goes to work that earns no tips, write down what you did and for how long.
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