New Jersey minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

The minimum wage in New Jersey is $15.92 an hour.

Minimum wage

$15.92

For a 40-hour week

$636.80

From January 1, 2027

$16.48

Source: N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a4(a); N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.1 (rate indexed annually to CPI-W) Read the rule

Employers in New Jersey can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $6.05 an hour and count up to $9.87 an hour of tips toward the $15.92 minimum. That is called a tip credit. Your cash wage plus the tips you keep must reach at least $15.92 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

$6.05

Maximum tip credit

$9.87

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: N.J.S.A. 34:11-56a4(e) (maximum tip credit $9.87/hour for 2024 and later years, so cash wage = $15.92 - $9.87 = $6.05); N.J.A.C. 12:56-3.5. Tip credit may be applied only if the employee is told in advance the cash wage, the tip credit amount, and that all tips are retained except under a valid tip pool. Read the rule

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

Overtime rate at minimum wage

$23.88

Overtime cash rate with a tip credit

$14.01

For tipped workers, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage. At $15.92, that is $23.88 an hour, so with the full tip credit the overtime cash rate cannot be less than $14.01.

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

New Jersey 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 New Jersey 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: N.J.S.A. 34:11-4.4 (only deductions required or specifically permitted by law). NJDOL: deductions for shortages, breakage, damaged equipment, unreturned property, uniforms, or required licenses are not allowed; employee-authorized payments for renting or laundering uniforms are permitted. 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 New Jersey.

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

New Jersey 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: N.J.S.A. 34:11D-1 et seq. (Earned Sick Leave Law): 1 hour per 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per benefit year, paid at the regular rate and never below minimum wage; covers nearly all private employees regardless of employer size. Read the rule

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

• If your employer has fewer than 6 employees or is a seasonal business, a lower minimum wage applies ($15.23 in 2026 instead of $15.92). This check uses the large-employer rate, so a minimum wage shortfall may be overstated.
• If a uniform deduction on your stub is for renting or laundering a uniform and you authorized it, New Jersey allows that deduction even though this check flags uniform deductions as prohibited.

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

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Division of Wage and Hour Compliance

Filing online is recommended. Paper form MW-31A (unpaid or underpaid wages) can be mailed to P.O. Box 389, Trenton, NJ 08625-0389 or faxed to (609) 695-1174. No phone number is listed on the claim page.

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.