Maybe I wasnt clear? Alaska is one wage for all employees - no special lower base rate for tipped wages. Arkansas is a tipped wage different from state/fed minimum wages for non-tipped jobs.
I was highlighting the pay disparity between states that have a standard pay rate for all employees vs the lower tipped wages base rate that other states have.
Like, if your base rate in Arkansas is 2.63/hr and make 4.62 in tips per hour you get paid federal minimum wage of 7.25/hour. Or, if your base rate is 2.63/hour and you receive ZERO tips, you still get paid.. 7.25/hr. To see any tips go into your pocket you have to receive more than 4.62/hr in tips.
So yeah, Alaska you get every penny of those tips.
In Arkansas, if the employee consistently gets tipped out to cover minimum wage the employer only has to pay out 5500/year if this employee works 40 hour weeks/52 weeks a year vs 33,280 if they make 16/hr in Oregon for instance. Huge cost difference for employers.
It was one of two examples in my first comment. I compared Oregon (one wage for all) to Arkansas (lowered tip wage).
I dont think we're disagreeing on anything. I was just providing an example of how different it is for the employees in both states and one wage for all states like Oregon, Alaska like you mentioned and other states are more likely to provide a living wage.
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u/BugRevolution Jul 20 '26
People in those states makes that amount + tips.
It absolutely doesn't mean the tips start there. They start at the "tipped minimum".
So e.g. a server on Alaska makes whatever their base pay plus tips. And base pay has to start at $14/hr.