Hawaii minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in Hawaii is $16.00 an hour. It went up from $14.00 on January 1, 2026.

Minimum wage

$16.00

For a 40-hour week

$640.00

Source: HRS 387-2(a); $16.00 effective January 1, 2026 Read the rule

Employers in Hawaii can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $14.75 an hour and count up to $1.25 an hour of tips toward the $16.00 minimum. That is called a tip credit. Your cash wage plus the tips you keep must reach at least $16.00 for every hour in each workweek. If they do not, your employer has to make up the difference.

Tips can count toward the wage

Yes

Tipped cash wage

$14.75

Maximum tip credit

$1.25

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: HRS 387-2(b): tip credit of up to $1.25, and only if the combined amount from the employer and in tips is at least $7.00 more than the applicable minimum wage Read the rule

• Hours past 40 in a workweek are paid at 1.5 times your regular rate.

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$24.00

Overtime cash rate with a tip credit

$22.75

For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage. At $16.00, that is $24.00 an hour, so with the full tip credit the overtime cash rate cannot be less than $22.75.

Source: 29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1); 29 CFR 778.107; Fact Sheet #15 (overtime for tipped employees is computed on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage) Read the rule

Hawaii does not require meal or rest breaks for adult workers, and neither does federal law. If your employer does give short breaks of 5 to 20 minutes, federal law says those minutes are paid.

Source: 29 CFR 785.18 and 785.19 (federal law does not require breaks; short breaks that are given must be paid) Read the rule

Taxes and deductions you agreed to, like health insurance, are normal. These are the ones that cause trouble in restaurants and bars, and what Hawaii allows:

Required uniforms

Only if pay stays above minimum

Register or cash shortages

Not allowed

Broken dishes or equipment

Not allowed

Card processing fee on card tips

Only if pay stays above minimum

Customers who walk out

Not allowed

"Only if pay stays above minimum" means the deduction cannot take your pay for the week below minimum wage. For a worker paid a tipped cash wage, that usually leaves no room for a uniform, shortage, breakage or walkout deduction. A card fee works differently: only the fee on the card tip itself, taken from that tip.

Source: HRS 388-6: an employer may not deduct, retain, or require payment for fines, cash shortages in a shared register, breakage, losses from accepted bad checks, or customer nonpayment or walkouts, even with the employee's written authorization Read the rule

Managers and owners can share in the pool

No

Kitchen staff can share when a tip credit is taken

No

Kitchen staff can share when no tip credit is taken

Yes

In most states, an employer can require tipped staff to pool tips with others who serve customers, like bussers, runners and bartenders. Managers, supervisors and owners can never take a share. Under federal law, cooks and dishwashers can share only when the employer takes no tip credit, and some states do not allow it at all. The answers above show the rule in Hawaii.

Source: 29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(B); 29 CFR 531.54 Read the rule

Under federal law, a mandatory service charge, like an automatic 20% on large parties, is not a tip. It belongs to the business unless it is paid out, and when it is paid to you it counts as wages. It cannot be used to cover the tip credit, and it should not be reported as tips on your stub. Some states give the charge to the staff when customers were not clearly told it is not a tip, so if a charge was presented as a gratuity, it is worth asking where it went.

Source: HRS 481B-14: a hotel or restaurant that adds a service charge on food or beverage (or hotel porterage) must either distribute it to employees as tip income or clearly disclose to the customer that it is used for other costs Read the rule

Hawaii does not require paid sick leave statewide. Some employers offer it anyway, and in a few places a city or county law requires it.

Source: No federal paid sick leave requirement for private employers.

Some parts of Hawaii law depend on things a pay stub does not show. A TruWage result for Hawaii can be off if any of these apply to you:

• If your cash wage plus tips averaged less than $7.00 an hour above the minimum wage, your employer could not take a tip credit at all and owed you the full minimum wage in cash. This check only verified the lower tipped rate.
• If your restaurant or hotel added a service charge and did not clearly tell customers it is kept for other costs, the charge belongs to employees as tip income. This check cannot tell whether that disclosure was made.
• If you alone controlled the register and were allowed to count it at the start and end of your shift, a cash shortage deduction may be lawful. This check flags every cash shortage deduction.

Start with your manager or payroll and show them the numbers. Many mistakes get fixed that way. If it is not fixed, you can file a wage claim. It is free and you do not need a lawyer.

Agency

Hawaii Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Wage Standards Division

Phone

808-586-8777

The Wage Standards Division enforces the Wage and Hour Law (HRS ch. 387) and the Payment of Wages and Other Compensation Law (HRS ch. 388). Call to have a claim reviewed, or see the filing guide at https://labor.hawaii.gov/wsd/filing-a-complaint-with-wage-standards-division/. Office: 830 Punchbowl St, Honolulu, HI 96813. Under HRS 388-5 an employer must pay any amount it concedes is owed even while the rest is disputed, and accepting partial payment does not waive the balance.

How to file a wage claim

You can also file with the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, which enforces federal wage law, at 1-866-487-9243. They take complaints in many languages and keep the name of the person complaining confidential.