Guides

Kansas restaurant pay rules (2026): what to pay tipped and non-tipped staff

Mays TeamMarch 25, 2026
The Labor Cost Trend in Mays for a Wichita location, week by week from January 5, 2026 to March 22, 2026: revenue, labor cost, labor cost as a percentage of revenue and hours worked

Kansas has two sets of pay rules, and which one you follow depends on the federal law. Its own minimum wage law, $7.25 an hour since 2010 with a $2.13 cash wage for tipped staff, reaches only employers and employees the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) doesn't cover (Kansas DOL, workplace laws). The same goes for its overtime law, which starts at 46 hours a week instead of 40 (K.S.A. 44-1204). A restaurant the FLSA covers pays the same $7.25 and $2.13, but overtime after 40 hours (Kansas DOL, FAQs).

This page puts Kansas's figures in one place. It covers what you owe tipped staff like servers and bartenders, what you owe everyone else, and two example weeks with the math shown. Every figure links to the official page it comes from.

Updated September 24, 2026: these figures are still current. Kansas's minimum wage is $7.25 an hour ($2.13 cash wage for tipped employees). No increase is scheduled. Bills to raise the minimum wage, one of them to extend it to employers the FLSA covers, died in committee on April 10, 2026 (SB 471 (2026)).

This is general information, not legal advice. Whether a rule applies can depend on your business's size and your own facts; the note at the end says more.

Kansas pay rules at a glance

As of March 25, 2026:

Rule

Kansas

Minimum wage

$7.25 an hour, since January 1, 2010

Tipped employees: minimum cash wage

$2.13 an hour, if you take the tip credit

Maximum tip credit

$5.12 an hour

Who counts as tipped

Receives $20 or more a month in tips under Kansas law; more than $30 for an employer the federal law covers

Overtime

1.5× the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek; no daily overtime (the federal rule: Kansas's own overtime law, which starts at 46 hours a week, reaches only employers the federal law doesn't cover)

Meal and rest breaks for adults

Not required by Kansas or federal law

Next change

None scheduled

Sources: Kansas DOL, workplace laws; K.S.A. 44-1203; K.A.R. 49-31-5; US DOL, tipped wages by state; US DOL, overtime; K.S.A. 44-1204; Kansas DOL, FAQs.

Who Kansas's law covers. Its minimum wage and overtime rules leave out every employer the FLSA covers (Kansas DOL, workplace laws), and, among others, workers 18 or younger employed part time (K.S.A. 44-1202). Whether the FLSA covers you turns on your yearly revenue and your business's interstate commerce (Kansas DOL, FAQs): a restaurant with $500,000 or more in yearly sales is covered, and a smaller one can be too, through staff whose work regularly involves commerce across state lines (DOL Fact Sheet #14).

Who counts as a tipped employee in Kansas

In Kansas, a tipped employee is someone in a job where tips are customarily part of the pay who receives $20 or more a month in tips (K.A.R. 49-31-5). An employer the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers must also meet the federal test to pay less than the federal minimum wage: more than $30 a month in tips (US DOL, tipped wages by state).

In a restaurant that usually means servers, bartenders, bussers and counter staff who serve customers, including baristas who get tips. Cooks and dishwashers usually aren't tipped employees. Only tips the employee actually receives count. If someone works two jobs, say a server who also works prep shifts, the tip credit applies only to the hours in the tipped job (DOL Fact Sheet #15).

Kansas's rule also lets an employer require each tipped employee to certify an accounting of the tips they received (K.A.R. 49-31-5).

What you must pay tipped staff in Kansas

Servers, bartenders, bussers and baristas who get tips can be paid a lower cash wage, with part of their tips counted toward the minimum wage. That's the tip credit, and it comes with conditions:

  • Pay at least $2.13 an hour in cash wages. That's the $7.25 minimum wage minus the most you can credit from tips, $5.12 (K.S.A. 44-1203).
  • Cash wages plus tips must reach $7.25 for every hour worked, week by week. If tips fall short in a workweek, you pay the difference by the regular payday for that week (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
  • Tell them first. Before you take the tip credit, tell each tipped employee, in writing or out loud: the cash wage you pay, the tip credit you claim, that the credit can't be more than the tips they actually get, that they keep all their tips except through a valid tip pool, and that the credit doesn't apply unless you've told them all this (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
  • Overtime is figured on the full minimum wage. An overtime hour is worth 1.5 × $7.25 = $10.875. After the $5.12 tip credit, you pay at least $5.755 of it in cash wages (DOL Fact Sheet #15).

You don't have to take the tip credit. If you pay tipped staff the full $7.25 an hour, their tips are all on top, there's nothing to make up at the end of the week, and you can put kitchen staff in the tip pool (see below).

What you must pay non-tipped staff in Kansas

Cooks, dishwashers, prep cooks, and cashiers or counter staff who don't get tips are paid like any other hourly employee:

  • At least $7.25 an hour for every hour worked (Kansas DOL, workplace laws). No tip credit applies.
  • The same goes for a tipped employee's hours in a non-tipped job, like a server's prep shift (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
  • Overtime is at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. At $7.25 an hour, that's $10.875 (US DOL, overtime).
  • Can they share in the tip pool? Only if you take no tip credit and pay everyone in the pool at least the full minimum wage. If you take a tip credit, a pool you require can include only staff who customarily and regularly receive tips (US DOL, tips). Managers and supervisors can never take from the pool.

Worked examples (made-up numbers)

The names, hours and tips below are made up. The rates are Kansas's as of March 25, 2026.

A server's week: when you have to top up

Sam is a server paid the $2.13 cash wage. He works 34 hours in each of two weeks: a busy one with $410.00 in tips and a slow one with $110.00.


Busy week

Slow week

Hours worked

34

34

Cash wages (34 × $2.13)

$72.42

$72.42

Tips received

$410.00

$110.00

Cash wages + tips

$482.42

$182.42

Minimum for the week (34 × $7.25)

$246.50

$246.50

You pay on top

$0.00

$64.08

In the slow week, $110.00 in tips covers only part of the $174.08 tip credit (34 × $5.12), so you pay the difference by the regular payday: $246.50 − $182.42 = $64.08. In the busy week you owe nothing extra, and every dollar of tips is still Sam's.

A cook's week with overtime

Ana is a line cook paid the Kansas minimum wage, $7.25 an hour. Over six days she works 9, 9, 9, 9, 9 and 3 hours: 48 hours in all.


Hours

Rate

Pay

Regular hours

40

$7.25

$290.00

Overtime hours (over 40)

8

$10.875 (1.5 × $7.25)

$87.00

Total

48


$377.00

Overtime is counted by the workweek, and hours can't be averaged across two weeks: a long week earns overtime even if the next one is short (US DOL, overtime). Bonuses can change the rate too; see Time clock, breaks and overtime: first-month payroll mistakes to avoid.

At an employer the FLSA doesn't cover, Kansas law would pay overtime only on the hours past 46, so fewer of Ana's hours would be at time and a half (K.S.A. 44-1204). A restaurant the FLSA covers pays the federal overtime above.

Tip pooling rules in Kansas

No specific Kansas rule found — federal rules apply (K.S.A. 44-1203). Under federal law (US DOL, tips):

  • The business, its managers and supervisors never keep employees' tips. A manager can't take anything from a pool; they may keep only tips for service they directly and solely provide. An owner with a real stake who helps run the business counts as a manager too.
  • With a tip credit, a pool you require can include only staff who customarily and regularly receive tips: servers, bartenders, bussers, counter staff who serve customers.
  • Without a tip credit, when everyone in the pool gets at least the full minimum wage, you can include cooks and dishwashers.
  • Card fees: you may reduce a card tip by the percentage the card company actually charges you, and no more (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
  • Service charges aren't tips. Money you share with staff from a mandatory service charge is wages, and it counts in the regular rate for overtime (DOL Fact Sheet #15).
  • Pay pooled tips out by the regular payday for the week or pay period (DOL Fact Sheet #15).

How to split a pool fairly, with a worked example: Tip pooling for new restaurant owners.

Overtime in Kansas

Kansas has its own overtime law (K.S.A. 44-1204): Time and a half after 46 hours in a workweek (K.S.A. 44-1204), only for employees the federal Fair Labor Standards Act does not cover.

For an employer the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) covers, the federal rule applies: non-exempt employees get at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek (US DOL, overtime).

A workweek is any fixed, recurring stretch of seven days that you choose, and hours can't be averaged across two weeks. There's no daily overtime, no double time and no seventh-day premium under Kansas or federal law, and weekend or holiday hours don't earn a premium by law.

For tipped staff, overtime is figured on the full minimum wage, not the cash wage (see the tipped section above).

Breaks in Kansas

  • Meal breaks: No specific Kansas rule found — federal rules apply (Kansas DOL, FAQs). The FLSA does not require meal periods. A bona fide meal period (typically 30+ minutes) is not work time (US DOL, breaks).
  • Rest breaks: No specific Kansas rule found — federal rules apply (Kansas DOL, FAQs). The FLSA does not require breaks. Short breaks an employer offers (about 5 to 20 minutes) are paid work time (US DOL, breaks).
  • Minors: No separate Kansas rule for minors; the adult rules above apply to them too (K.S.A. 38-605).

Other Kansas rules that affect pay

  • Paid sick leave: No specific Kansas rule found — federal rules apply (Kansas DOL, FAQs). No federal paid sick leave requirement. The FMLA provides unpaid, job-protected leave (up to 12 weeks) where it applies (US DOL, sick leave).

Paydays, final pay and deductions

  • Paydays. Pay at least once a month on regular paydays set in advance, for a pay period that ends no more than 15 days before payday (K.S.A. 44-314).
  • Final pay. Someone who quits or is let go is paid by the next regular payday (K.S.A. 44-315).
  • Late pay. An employer who willfully doesn't pay can owe a penalty of 1% of the unpaid wages for each day, except Sundays and holidays, after the eighth day, up to the full amount unpaid (K.S.A. 44-315).
  • Deductions. Beyond what the law requires, a deduction needs the employee's signed written agreement, and it can't take pay below the federal minimum wage (K.S.A. 44-319). Cash and inventory shortages, breakage, bad checks or card sales, and losses from burglaries, robberies or alleged negligence aren't authorized deductions (K.A.R. 49-20-1). On request, give an itemized statement of deductions for each pay period (K.S.A. 44-320).

Teenagers and alcohol

  • Under 16. In a restaurant, not before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m. on a night before a school day, and no more than 8 hours a day or 40 a week under Kansas law (K.S.A. 38-603); the federal limits for school days are tighter, and an employer the FLSA covers follows those too (US DOL, state child labor). No cooking, except at a snack bar or lunch counter, and no baking (K.A.R. 49-1-70). A work permit is needed only for a minor who isn't enrolled in school (K.S.A. 38-604).
  • Alcohol. Staff serving alcohol must be at least 18, and those mixing or pouring drinks at least 21. Employees under 21 work only under the on-premises supervision of the licensee or an employee 21 or older (K.S.A. 41-2610).

Local rates in Kansas

Kansas law bars cities and counties from requiring private employers to pay a minimum wage other than the state or federal one, or to provide employment benefits, such as paid sick leave, that state or federal law doesn't require (K.S.A. 12-16,130). The same law bars them from requiring leave, paid or unpaid, or changes to how you schedule employees. So the state's $7.25 minimum wage applies everywhere in Kansas, and there's no local rate table for Kansas.

How Mays helps

Mays runs the schedule, time clock, tip pool and payroll export for each location. For Kansas pay rules, that means:

  • Positions and wages. Give each position a default hourly wage, for example the tipped cash wage for servers and at least the minimum wage for cooks. Turn on Labor law compliance and Mays looks up each location's minimum wage from its address and warns you when a position's default wage, someone's hourly wage or a punch is below it, comparing tipped positions with the tipped cash wage when it has that figure. It never blocks the save.
  • A tip pool per location. Split pooled tips by hours worked, equally or by FTAR score, per pay period or day by day, and choose which positions receive. Until you pick positions under Who receives, the positions marked Tipped share the tips; if no position is marked, everyone who worked does, cooks included. So if you take a tip credit, tick Tipped position only on positions whose staff get tips, or pick them yourself. A punch with no position counts under its shift's position, or else the person's primary or only position at that location; with neither, its hours get no share, and the tip pool card shows how many punches that leaves out. Leave managers and admins out of the pool is on by default, so leave it on. The tips come from your connected POS at that location (Square or Union) or from tips synced with 7shifts time punches, and each person's share appears in the Tip Payouts report and the payroll export. If you take your card processor's fee out of card tips, turn on Labor law compliance and Deduct the card processing fee from card tips: Mays deducts only your processor's percentage, split in proportion to each person's card tips, and shows it on the pay period and in the export.
  • The tip-credit make-up is yours to check. Mays doesn't compare a tipped employee's cash wages plus tips with the minimum wage, so check each workweek the way the server example above does.
  • Time clock and timesheets. Staff clock in on their phone, a shared kiosk or an NFC tag. Timesheets run by pay period. Overtime is counted by the workweek, and with Labor law compliance on, by any daily, double-time and seventh-day rule the location's state sets too, which Mays reads from its address; the schedule's labor cost, the reports and the pay summary all include it.
  • Payroll export. A standard CSV or a Gusto-format CSV with regular and overtime hours and pooled tips for each employee. A card surcharge you share with staff goes in as wages, not tips.
  • Overtime after 40 hours. With Labor law compliance on, each Kansas location pays overtime after the federal 40 hours a week, and its Overtime panel lists Kansas's 46-hour rule as not applied, because that rule reaches only employers the federal law doesn't cover. If you're sure the FLSA doesn't reach a location, set that location's own overtime rules on its Labor & compliance card, with a note.
  • Labor cost week by week. Insights → Labor Cost → Labor Cost Trend shows revenue, labor cost, labor % and hours worked by day, week or month, from your point-of-sale sales and the time clock.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from these official pages, as they read on the date shown.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and coverage rules (your business's size, whether federal law covers you) decide which of them apply. Check the pages above, and ask an employment lawyer or accountant about your situation.

Run Kansas payroll on the right numbers

Set each position's wage, turn on the tip pool with managers left out, and let the time clock count overtime by the workweek. Then payroll is an export, not an evening.

Start your free trial: 30 days, every module, no card needed. Setting up a tip pool? Read Tip pooling for new restaurant owners.