Kansas minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

Kansas does not set its own minimum wage above the federal rate, so the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour applies.

Minimum wage

$7.25

For a 40-hour week

$290.00

Source: 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1) Read the rule

Employers in Kansas can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.13 an hour and count up to $5.12 an hour of tips toward the $7.25 minimum. That is called a tip credit. Your cash wage plus the tips you keep must reach at least $7.25 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

$2.13

Maximum tip credit

$5.12

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: 29 U.S.C. 203(m)(2)(A); 29 CFR 531.59 Read the rule

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

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$10.875

Overtime cash rate with a tip credit

$5.755

For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage. At $7.25, that is $10.875 an hour, so with the full tip credit the overtime cash rate cannot be less than $5.755.

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

Kansas 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 Kansas 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: K.S.A. 44-319 (no withholding except as required by law or under a signed written authorization for the employee's benefit; uniform or merchandise purchase deductions allowed under a signed written agreement and never below minimum wage, 44-319(b) and (e)); K.A.R. 49-20-1(a)(2) (deductions for cash and inventory shortages, breakage, returned checks or bad credit card sales, losses from burglaries, robberies, or alleged negligent acts, and for uniforms or equipment customarily supplied by the employer are not authorized deductions) 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 Kansas.

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: 29 CFR 531.55 (a compulsory service charge is not a tip) Read the rule

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

• If money was taken from your pay for a uniform without a written agreement you signed, it is unlawful in Kansas even if it left you above minimum wage, which is all this check tests.
• If your employer is not covered by federal wage law (a very small, purely local business), Kansas overtime starts after 46 hours a week, not 40, so this check may overstate your overtime.

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

Kansas Department of Labor, Office of Employment Standards

Phone

(785) 296-5000, option 5

File Claim for Wages form K-ESLR 105 by mail (401 SW Topeka Blvd., Topeka, KS 66603-3182) or email KDOL.EmploymentStandards@ks.gov under the Kansas Wage Payment Law (K.S.A. 44-313 et seq.). A labor conciliator forwards the claim to the employer; unresolved claims go to an administrative hearing. Minimum wage and overtime for FLSA-covered employers are enforced by the federal Wage and Hour Division.

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.