Maryland minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in Maryland is $15.00 an hour.

Minimum wage

$15.00

For a 40-hour week

$600.00

Source: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. 3-413 (Fair Wage Act of 2023; $15.00 for all employer sizes from Jan. 1, 2024) Read the rule

Employers in Maryland can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $3.63 an hour and count up to $11.37 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

$3.63

Maximum tip credit

$11.37

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. 3-419; COMAR 09.12.41.20 (tip credit wage statement) 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

$11.13

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 $11.13.

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

Maryland 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 Maryland allows:

Required uniforms

Only if pay stays above minimum

Register or cash shortages

Only if pay stays above minimum

Broken dishes or equipment

Only if pay stays above minimum

Card processing fee on card tips

Only if pay stays above minimum

Customers who walk out

Only if pay stays above minimum

"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: 29 CFR 531.35 (wages must be paid free and clear); Fact Sheet #16; Fact Sheet #15 (credit card fee deduction limited to the fee actually charged and may not reduce pay below minimum wage) 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 Maryland.

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

Maryland requires employers to give paid sick leave.

You earn

1 hour for every 30 hours worked

Yearly use can be capped at

40 hours

Source: Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. 3-1301 et seq. (Healthy Working Families Act, eff. Feb. 11, 2018); accrual 1 hour per 30 hours worked, 40 hours per year, 64-hour accrual ceiling Read the rule

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

• If you work in Montgomery, Howard or Prince George's County, the county minimum wage is higher than the state rate this check used, so the result may understate what you are owed.
• If money was taken from your pay for a cash shortage, breakage or walkout without a separate statement you signed authorizing it, Maryland treats it as unlawful even though this check only flags deductions that drop you below minimum wage.

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

Maryland Department of Labor, Division of Labor and Industry, Employment Standards Service

Phone

410-767-2357

Employment Standards Service takes unpaid wage, minimum wage, overtime and unlawful deduction claims under the Wage Payment and Collection Law and the Wage and Hour Law. Spanish-language lines: 410-767-2387, 410-767-2186, 410-767-2384, 410-767-2371. Sick and Safe Leave complaints go to the same office.

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.