Illinois minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in Illinois is $15.00 an hour.

Minimum wage

$15.00

For a 40-hour week

$600.00

Source: Illinois Minimum Wage Law, 820 ILCS 105/4(a)(1) (P.A. 101-0001 schedule, $15.00 from January 1, 2025); 56 Ill. Adm. Code 210 Read the rule

Employers in Illinois can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $9.00 an hour and count up to $6.00 an hour of tips toward the $15.00 minimum. That is called a tip credit. Your cash wage plus the tips you keep must reach at least $15.00 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

$9.00

Maximum tip credit

$6.00

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: 820 ILCS 105/4(c) (employer may take a gratuity allowance of up to 40% of the minimum wage, so the cash wage is 60% = $9.00) Read the rule

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

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$22.50

Overtime cash rate with a tip credit

$16.50

For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage. At $15.00, that is $22.50 an hour, so with the full tip credit the overtime cash rate cannot be less than $16.50.

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

Meal break

20 minutes when you work more than 7.5 hours

Rest break

Not required

Extra pay for a missed break

No

Illinois requires these breaks but does not set a fixed premium, like an extra hour of pay, when one is missed. If you work through a meal break, that time has to be paid.

Source: One Day Rest in Seven Act, 820 ILCS 140/3 (at least 20 minutes for every 7.5-hour shift, beginning no later than 5 hours into the shift, plus an additional 20 minutes for every additional 4.5 continuous hours) 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 Illinois allows:

Required uniforms

Not allowed

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: Wage Payment and Collection Act, 820 ILCS 115/9; 56 Ill. Adm. Code 300.720, 300.730, 300.820, 300.840 (deductions for cash shortages, damaged property, and uniforms are unlawful unless the employee signs an express written agreement freely given at the time the deduction is made) 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 Illinois.

Source: 820 ILCS 115/4.1 (gratuities are the property of employees; employers may not keep them; tip pooling as permitted by law is allowed) 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: 820 ILCS 115/4.1 covers gratuities only; mandatory service charges are not gratuities (federal 29 CFR 531.55 applies) Read the rule

Illinois requires employers to give paid sick leave.

You earn

1 hour for every 40 hours worked

Yearly use can be capped at

40 hours

Source: Paid Leave for All Workers Act, 820 ILCS 192 (effective January 1, 2024; 1 hour of paid leave per 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year, usable for any reason) Read the rule

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

• If you work in Chicago or Cook County, the local minimum wage is higher than the state rate this check used, and Chicago is phasing out the tip credit. The result may understate what you are owed.
• If your employer has fewer than 4 employees, not counting family members, the Illinois minimum wage does not apply and the federal $7.25 may be your floor. This check used the $15.00 state rate.
• If you signed an express written agreement at the time of the deduction, a cash shortage, breakage or uniform deduction may be lawful. This check flags them all; a form signed at hire does not count.

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

Illinois Department of Labor, Fair Labor Standards Division

Phone

(312) 793-2808

Online wage claim form at https://webapps.illinois.gov/dol/wageclaims/ (paper forms in English, Spanish, and Polish). Email DOL.Wages@Illinois.gov. Minimum wage and overtime claims are filed under the Minimum Wage Law; unpaid wages, tips, and unlawful deductions under the Wage Payment and Collection Act. Workers in Chicago may also file with the Chicago Office of Labor Standards.

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.