Massachusetts minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $15.00 an hour.

Minimum wage

$15.00

For a 40-hour week

$600.00

Source: M.G.L. c. 151, s. 1 ($15.00 effective 1/1/2023; no further scheduled increases); 454 CMR 27.00 Read the rule

Employers in Massachusetts can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $6.75 an hour and count up to $8.25 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

$6.75

Maximum tip credit

$8.25

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: M.G.L. c. 151, s. 7 (service rate not less than $6.75 for employees who customarily receive more than $20/month in tips; applies only if the employee has been informed of the provision and keeps all tips except through a lawful tip pool; the tip make-up must be calculated at the end of each shift). 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

$14.25

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 $14.25.

Source: M.G.L. c. 151, s. 1A and 1B; Attorney General guidance: for employees paid the service rate, the overtime rate is 1.5 x the basic minimum wage, not the service rate (1.5 x $15.00 = $22.50, less the $8.25 tip credit = $14.25 cash per overtime hour). Read the rule

Meal break

30 minutes when you work more than 6 hours

Rest break

Not required

Extra pay for a missed break

No

Massachusetts 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: M.G.L. c. 149, s. 100: no person shall be required to work more than six hours in a calendar day without an interval of at least 30 minutes for a meal. The meal period may be unpaid only if the worker is free of all duties and free to leave. No rest break requirement; no premium pay for a missed meal break. 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 Massachusetts allows:

Required uniforms

Not allowed

Register or cash shortages

Not allowed

Broken dishes or equipment

Not allowed

Card processing fee on card tips

Not allowed

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: M.G.L. c. 149, s. 148 and s. 150 (Wage Act; an employer cannot deduct unless the law allows it or the worker requests a deduction for the worker's own benefit, and cannot take money from pay for the employer's ordinary business costs); 454 CMR 27.05(4) (employer must pay for or promptly refund required uniforms); M.G.L. c. 149, s. 152A(b) (no employer may demand, request or accept any payment or deduction from a tip or service charge). 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

No

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 Massachusetts.

Source: M.G.L. c. 149, s. 152A(c): a tip pool may distribute only to wait staff employees, service employees and service bartenders, none of whom may have managerial responsibility; kitchen and other back-of-house staff may never share, with or without a tip credit. Read the rule

Massachusetts treats a service charge that customers would reasonably take as a tip as belonging to the staff who served them. It has to be paid out to those workers.

Source: M.G.L. c. 149, s. 152A(a) and (d): a 'service charge' is a fee charged in lieu of a tip, including any fee a patron would reasonably expect to go to staff; the total proceeds of any service charge or tip on a bill must be remitted only to wait staff, service employees or service bartenders in proportion to service provided. A 'house or administrative fee' is excluded only if the employer designates it in writing so the patron knows it is not a tip or service charge for staff. Read the rule

Massachusetts 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: M.G.L. c. 149, s. 148C (Earned Sick Time): 1 hour per 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year; paid for employers with 11 or more employees, unpaid for smaller employers; usable from the 90th day of employment; 940 CMR 33.00. Read the rule

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

• If your tips plus the $6.75 service rate fell short of $15.00 an hour on any single shift, your employer owed you the difference for that shift. This check only compares totals per workweek, so it may understate what you are owed.
• If your employer kept any fee labeled service charge, gratuity or tip, that money belongs to the wait staff. Only a fee described in writing to customers as a house or administrative fee may be kept. This check cannot tell which it was.

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

Massachusetts Attorney General's Office, Fair Labor Division

Phone

(617) 727-3465

File online through the complaint form linked from the page (choose 'Non-Payment of Wage'). Complaints may be anonymous. Fair Labor Hotline staffed Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Workers may also sue privately for treble damages after requesting a right-to-sue letter.

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.