North Dakota minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

North Dakota 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 North Dakota can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $4.86 an hour and count up to $2.39 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

$4.86

Maximum tip credit

$2.39

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: N.D. Admin. Code 46-02-07-03(1) (tip credit of up to 33% of the minimum wage, so the cash wage is 67% of $7.25 = $4.86; employer must notify the employee in advance and keep written records showing wages plus credit reach the minimum wage); 46-02-07-01 (tipped employee: more than $30 per month in tips); N.D.C.C. 34-06-22 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

$8.485

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 $8.485.

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

30 minutes when you work more than 5 hours

Rest break

Not required

Extra pay for a missed break

No

North Dakota 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: N.D. Admin. Code 46-02-07-02(5) (30-minute meal period on each shift exceeding 5 hours when two or more employees are on duty; unpaid if completely relieved of duty; may be waived by agreement; collective bargaining agreements take precedence) 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 North Dakota 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: N.D. Admin. Code 46-02-07-02(11) (an employer may require employees to buy uniforms only if the cost does not bring pay below the hourly minimum for the pay period); N.D.C.C. 34-14-04.1 (withholding only as required by law or with written authorization) 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 North Dakota.

Source: N.D. Admin. Code 46-02-07-03(2) (tip pooling is allowed only among tipped employees, must be approved by a vote of 50% plus one of the tipped employees, and the employer must keep a written record of the vote) 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

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

• If you are in a tip pool, North Dakota allows it only when the tipped employees approved it by a vote that the employer recorded in writing. This check cannot see whether that vote happened.
• If your employer deducted for a shortage or breakage without your written authorization, the deduction may be unlawful. This check only flags such deductions when they cut your pay 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

North Dakota Department of Labor and Human Rights

Phone

701-328-2660

Toll-free 1-800-582-8032. Review the wage claim process description, then submit a claim at nd.gov/labor/submit-wage-claim after informal resolution fails. Enforces N.D.C.C. ch. 34-06 and 34-14 and the Minimum Wage and Work Conditions Order (N.D. Admin. Code ch. 46-02-07).

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.