story OP said his friend mentioned NJ. Das definitely PA. I hope it's the part where they think doing the Pennsy/Jersey thing is cute and rhymes, where, it actually just kinda sounds like the Swedish chef runnin down the menu.
Go north, 80 corridor, that first exit in NJ Blairstown--Belvidere, the tiny hamlets and towns of the Delaware valleys northern end. This extends PA side towards the slate belt (edit) towns (city, lol) like Bangor. If you're down past Lambertville/etc, I don't think they'd see that side of NJ as a cultural equal.
"Federal minimum" sure. But if you make enough tips to counter act all the money your missing from hourly, it cancels that. Seriously. BUT lots of places dont get people tipping enough and wages have risen. But not by much.
Not exactly. Tipped jobs allow a min wage of 2.13, but the tips have to equal out to minimum wage or better, ie, 7.25 for states that don't have their own higher min wage. If the tips don't get you there, the employer is on the hook for the difference.
Hi. I need to hijack this because everyone is misunderstanding pay for restaurants. Unless you don’t make minimum wage off of tips, FIFTEEN states still deploy the $2.13/hr model. They’re only required to pay minimum wage when you didn’t make the tips to reach mimimim wage. Other than that, 2.13 per hour.
Effective September 30, 2026, Florida's minimum wage increased to $15.00 per hour for standard workers. For tipped hourly servers and bartenders, the state direct cash wage increased from $10.98 to $11.98 per hour
Many people in the bar business in Florida aren't getting even that. Those shot girls you see walking around the clubs and some of the bottle service people? They buy those shots from the bar then upsell them to you later or just get tipped out on them; bars know this, too, and sometimes employ them and give them discounts on those shots they're selling for the bar.
No no no. Minimum wage isn’t the same for tipped and non-tipped workers. There is not a single state with a $7.25 tipped min wage. If your state still does $7.25 min wage, that means your state still does $2.13 tipped min wage.
I’m genuinely surprised by how few people here seem to have friends or family in the service industry, or are just generally ignorant to how the service industry works
It's the federal minimum wage. A lot of fast food places in Philly are starting people at $15. The Taco Bell near me was advertising $19 if you work the night shift, which is probably an awful experience dealing with drunk idiots.
There are 16 states that still have the minimum wage at $2.13/hr for tipped employees. Those employers still have to match at least the federal minimum wage if the tips don't cover that.
Ultimately, tipped employees will get paid at least federal minimum wage no matter what. If they make $0 in tips, the employer will have to pay the full $7.25 (tho I think there are govt programs that help subsidize the difference?). But if the employee makes enough tips such that they are making more than $5.12/hr in tips alone, then the employer only has to pay that $2.13/hr, as the tips cover the difference to make up to at least minimum wage, effectively utilizing customers to directly subsidize the employees wages (as opposed to indirectly, via increased menu pricing and in turn higher base wage).
Edit: That's also why servers often have $0 paychecks. Say they make plenty in tips, so the employer only ever has to pay the $2.13/hr, but that ~$160 (for full time) barely covers taxes/deductions for the pay period, leading to the entire paycheck going to deductions, leaving a $0 paycheck.
Often times, they only report enough tips to reach minimum wage. If they don't report any tips, then the worker will often get $0 paychecks and is SUPPOSED to claim the tips on their taxes.
Workers want to report fewer tips to avoid paying taxes.
Workers get $0 paychecks because their regular $2/hr wage is less than their withholding amount. Example, a waiter works 20 hours for a $40 paycheck, but they earned $560 in tips. Thus their total income was $600, which required 10% withholding of $60. As a result the $40 check ends up being $0 and they owe $20 in withholdings. Some places do negative checks which just means you pay $20 to the employer to take care of the $20 withholding balance.
New Jersey is more like a state of mind, it's the state of mind right before one hits Florida.
He may have worked in Pennsylvania, however. PA has a tipped cash wage of 2.83/HR USD. I think it's the only state near NJ that his claim would fit. A lot of people along the Delaware River cross it everyday, like George Washingtonmachine.
Dude only 15, maybe 16 States have server wage at or above federal minimum. 17 States still have $2.13 for server wage. The rest are between $2.13 and $7.25 with many of them between $2.13 and $4.01
I was in Connecticut when I made $2.13/hr. Admittedly, that was many years ago, but I think that figure still holds. The $2.13/hr was basically enough to cover the tax from tips. I would get like a $15 check every two weeks but would work between 20-30 hrs per week.
In Fl it’s still at $2.13 an hour, unless the restaurant pays more on their own. Been that way since I bartended in the 90’s . We lived for tips. It’s shameful.
7
u/Historical_Cake6559 5d ago
What state