The DC tipped minimum wage is $12.00 per hour in base cash pay as of July 1, 2025, and it rises to $14.00 per hour on July 1, 2026. Tips are earned on top of that base. Under Initiative 82, the District is phasing out the tip credit entirely, and by July 1, 2027, employers will owe tipped workers the full standard minimum wage before tips.1D.C. Law Library. D.C. Law 24-281 – District of Columbia Tip Credit Elimination Act of 2022
The standard (non-tipped) minimum wage is $17.95 per hour through June 30, 2026, and $18.40 per hour starting July 1, 2026, adjusted each year based on the Consumer Price Index for the Washington metro area.2Department of Employment Services. District of Columbia Minimum Wage Increase Notice The tipped base wage follows a fixed schedule set by Initiative 82 rather than tracking inflation.
How the Tip Credit Phase-Out Works
Initiative 82 passed in November 2022 and set annual step-ups toward a single minimum wage for all workers:
- January 1, 2023: $6.00 per hour
- July 1, 2023: $8.00 per hour
- July 1, 2024: $10.00 per hour
- July 1, 2025: $12.00 per hour
- July 1, 2026: $14.00 per hour
- July 1, 2027: full standard minimum wage; tip credit eliminated
At every step, tips belong to the employee on top of the listed base wage.1D.C. Law Library. D.C. Law 24-281 – District of Columbia Tip Credit Elimination Act of 2022 Once July 2027 arrives, tipped and non-tipped workers earn the same base, and the tip credit no longer exists in the District.
The Weekly Top-Up Rule
Until the phase-out is complete, DC employers have to check every workweek that each tipped employee’s base wage plus tips comes out to at least the full standard minimum wage. Right now that floor is $17.95 per hour; on July 1, 2026, it becomes $18.40. If a slow week leaves a server’s effective hourly pay below the floor, the employer pays the difference.3Department of Employment Services. District of Columbia Minimum Wage Increase Notice
The check runs on a workweek basis, not a pay-period average. A strong Tuesday cannot patch a dead Monday. Each seven-day window stands alone, and the make-up pay is the employer’s obligation. It cannot be recouped later from a better tip night.
Service Charges Are Not Tips
A voluntary tip belongs to the employee. A mandatory service charge belongs to the employer unless the employer says otherwise. That distinction matters as more DC restaurants add service charges to checks.
Under DC’s Consumer Protection Procedures Act, restaurants must disclose mandatory service charges before a customer places an order. The disclosure has to be timely and visible, whether on the menu, on signage, or verbally, and cannot be buried in fine print or first revealed on the check. If a restaurant tells customers a service charge “goes to the staff,” those funds have to actually reach the staff.4Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. OAG Supplemental Guidance
Starting January 1, 2026, DC pay stubs must separately itemize any compensation beyond base wages and tips, including an employee’s share of service charges, commissions, and bonuses.5D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1008 – Duties of Employers; Open Records Workers can use those line items to verify that advertised service-charge distributions actually show up in their pay.
Who Can Share in Tips
Federal law bars employers, managers, and supervisors from keeping employees’ tips. A manager or supervisor can keep tips from a customer they personally and solely served, but cannot pull from a shared tip jar or a tip pool. Someone counts as a manager or supervisor if they regularly direct two or more full-time employees and have authority to hire or fire.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet – Managers and Supervisors Under the Fair Labor Standards Act and Tips
Initiative 82 adds a DC-specific change that kicks in only after full elimination: once the tip credit is gone in July 2027, employers will be allowed to run mandatory tip-sharing policies that include all employees, meaning back-of-house staff like cooks and dishwashers can be pulled into the pool.1D.C. Law Library. D.C. Law 24-281 – District of Columbia Tip Credit Elimination Act of 2022 Nothing changes on that front until 2027.
If You’ve Been Underpaid
Workers who suspect their employer has shorted them can file a complaint with the DC Department of Employment Services, Office of Wage-Hour Compliance. Minimum wage complaints follow the same administrative process and carry the same remedies as other wage theft claims under DC law.7D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1012.01 – Administrative Actions Under federal law, unpaid wages can be recovered going back two years, or three years if the violation was willful.
Retaliation is prohibited. That covers firing, cutting hours, changing shifts, or any other action that would discourage a reasonable worker from speaking up. Protection also reaches informal steps, such as asking a manager about your pay rate or discussing wages with coworkers.8U.S. Department of Labor. Retaliation
What Employers Face for Getting It Wrong
DC’s penalty structure has teeth. Administrative penalties start at $50 per affected employee per day the violation continues on a first offense and rise to $100 per employee per day for repeat offenses. A negligent first offense can bring a criminal fine of up to $2,500 per affected employee. Willful violations carry fines up to $5,000 per employee on a first offense, up to $10,000 on later offenses, plus jail time of up to 30 days for a first willful offense and up to 90 days after that.9D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1307 – Penalties Back pay and liquidated damages sit on top of all of that.
Employers must also keep payroll records, including names, pay rates, hours worked, and tip declarations, for at least three years.5D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1008 – Duties of Employers; Open Records Those are the first documents investigators ask for when a complaint comes in.