Under federal law you are a tipped employee if you work in a job where you customarily and regularly receive more than $30 a month in tips. Servers, bartenders, bussers and food runners usually qualify. Cooks and dishwashers usually do not.
States can set their own threshold. Pennsylvania requires more than $135 a month in tips, while Massachusetts and North Carolina use $20 a month. If you do not meet the threshold, your employer cannot take a tip credit and owes you the full minimum wage.
Being a tipped employee in one job does not make every hour tipped. If you also work a separate job with no tips, see dual jobs.
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