West Virginia tipped minimum wage 2026
The West Virginia tipped cash wage is $2.62 per hour. Employers may take a tip credit of up to $6.13 per hour, provided the worker's cash wage plus tips reaches the state minimum of $8.75 per hour for every workweek. [DOL Tipped][WV labor dept.]
Cash wage and tip credit
When tips fall short
If a worker's cash wage plus reported tips do not average to the West Virginia minimum of $8.75 per hour over a workweek, the employer must pay the shortfall. The Tip Credit Checker tool runs the math at /tools/tip-credit. Under the 2021 DOL final rule, time spent on non-tip-producing work above 20 percent of the shift (or 30 continuous minutes) must be paid at the full minimum, not the tip-credited rate. [DOL FS-15]
Background
W. Va. Code section 21-5C-2 set the state rate to $8.75 on 2016-01-01. State law covers employers with six or more workers at one location not otherwise subject to FLSA. Tipped cash wage is 30 percent of the state minimum.