Pennsylvania minimum wage and tip laws (2026)

Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.83 an hour and count up to $4.42 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

$2.83

Maximum tip credit

$4.42

Employer must tell you first

Yes

Source: 43 P.S. 333.103(d) (Minimum Wage Act); 34 Pa. Code 231.1 and 231.101 (effective 8/5/2022): a tipped employee is one who customarily and regularly receives more than $135 a month in tips; the employer must pay not less than $2.83 per hour in cash wages and tips must bring the employee to $7.25. 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

$6.455

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 $6.455.

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

Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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

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: Wage Payment and Collection Law, 43 P.S. 260.3; 34 Pa. Code 9.1 (deductions are authorized only for the convenience of employees and only from the listed categories or others approved by the Department; cash shortages, breakage and customer walkouts are not authorized deductions). 34 Pa. Code 231.113: the employer must pay the tipped employee the full amount of the tip authorized by the patron and may not deduct credit card or other payment processing fees from tips, individually or before distributing a tip pool. 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 Pennsylvania.

Source: 34 Pa. Code 231.112: incorporates the federal tip pooling standards at 29 CFR 531.54 (pool limited to customarily tipped occupations when any participant is paid below $7.25; non-tipped staff may share only when everyone receives the full minimum wage); managers, supervisors and employers may not receive tips from a pool. Employers must give written notice of a tip pooling arrangement at or before the offer of employment or at least one pay period before it takes effect. 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: 34 Pa. Code 231.114: employers providing banquet, special function or package-deal service must show automatic administrative or service fees and gratuities on separate lines of the contract or bill and state on contracts and menus that the service fee is not a gratuity for employees. Read the rule

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

• If you receive $135.00 or less in tips a month, you are not a tipped employee in Pennsylvania and must be paid the full $7.25 for every hour rather than the $2.83 cash wage. This check assumes you qualify as tipped.
• If more than 20 percent of your weekly hours went to side work that does not earn tips, those extra hours must be paid at the full $7.25 rather than the $2.83 cash wage. This check cannot see how your hours were spent.
• If you worked a banquet or event with an automatic service fee, that fee belongs to you unless the contract and menu stated that it is not a gratuity for employees. This check cannot see that disclosure.

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

Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Bureau of Labor Law Compliance

File online through the complaint link on the page (the form times out after 20 minutes), or send the PDF form by fax to 717-787-0517, by email to RA-LI-SLMR-LLC@pa.gov, or by mail to Bureau of Labor Law Compliance, 1301 Labor and Industry Building, 651 Boas Street, Harrisburg, PA 17121. Minimum wage and overtime claims use the separate Minimum Wage and Overtime Complaint Form linked from the Bureau's labor law 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.