Yes. The Fair Labor Standards Act allows employers to pay tipped workers the federal tipped minimum of $2.13 by claiming up to $5.12 of an employee’s tips as credit towards the $7.25 minimum wage.
The amount claimed cannot exceed the tips actually received – if an employee does not receive $5.12 in tips, the employer must pay the difference.
The federal tipped minimum has not increased since its inception in 1991 – despite being set at half the minimum wage, a 1996 amendment to the FLSA locked it at $2.13.
According to OK Policy, tipped workers’ exclusion from minimum wage laws is rooted in racism; recently emancipated Black people largely worked tip-reliant jobs. Women disproportionately work tipped occupations nationwide and represent 75% of such workers in Oklahoma.
The annual median income for restaurant servers in Oklahoma was about $4,000 above the federal poverty level in 2024.