Guides

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

Mays TeamJune 17, 2026
A pay period's punches in Mays's Compact layout for the two weeks ending June 7, 2026, with the daily overtime threshold on: one row per employee with regular, overtime and total hours, the line cook's overtime coming from her long days

Nevada has one minimum wage for every employee, $12.00 an hour, since July 1, 2024, when the lower rate for employers that offered health benefits ended (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ). There's no tip credit: servers get the full $12.00 and keep their tips (Nev. Const. art. 15, § 16). The rule that catches new owners is overtime: an employee paid less than $18.00 an hour earns time and a half after 8 hours in a day, not only after 40 in a week (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ).

This page puts Nevada'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. Nevada's minimum wage is $12.00 an hour, and tipped employees get the same. No increase is scheduled.

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.

Nevada pay rules at a glance

As of June 17, 2026:

Rule

Nevada

Minimum wage

$12.00 an hour, since July 1, 2024

Tipped employees

The full minimum wage: Nevada doesn't allow a tip credit

Overtime

1.5× the regular rate after 40 hours in a workweek, and after 8 hours in a day for employees paid less than $18.00 an hour

Meal and rest breaks for adults

Nevada has break rules; see Breaks below

Next change

None scheduled

Sources: Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ; Nev. Const. art. 15, § 16.

Who counts as a tipped employee in Nevada

Nevada doesn't allow a tip credit (Nev. Const. art. 15, § 16), so there's no separate tipped wage: servers and bartenders get at least the full minimum wage, and their tips come on top. Who counts as tipped still matters for tip pools, below.

What you must pay tipped staff in Nevada

Servers, bartenders and baristas who get tips must be paid at least the full $12.00 an hour in wages (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ), and their tips are all theirs, on top. There's no tipped cash wage and no weekly tip make-up to calculate.

What you must pay non-tipped staff in Nevada

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

  • At least $12.00 an hour for every hour worked (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ). No tip credit applies.
  • Overtime is at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek or 8 in a day for employees paid less than $18.00 an hour. At $12.00 an hour, that's $18.00 (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ).
  • Can they share in the tip pool? Yes, as far as federal law goes: Nevada has no tip credit, so a pool you require can include cooks and dishwashers (US DOL, tips). Nevada's labor commissioner says a required pool can include employees of different ranks, as long as all the tips go to the employees (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ). Managers and supervisors can never take from it.

Worked examples (made-up numbers)

The names, hours and tips below are made up. The rates are Nevada's as of June 17, 2026.

A server's week

Sam is a server. For a 32-hour week you pay him at least 32 × $12.00 = $384.00 in wages, before tips. His tips are all on top, whatever they come to; there's no make-up to calculate.

A cook's week with overtime

Ana is a line cook paid the Nevada minimum wage, $12.00 an hour. Over five days she works 10, 10, 8, 6 and 6 hours: 40 hours in all.


Hours

Rate

Pay

Regular hours

36

$12.00

$432.00

Overtime hours (daily and weekly)

4

$18.00 (1.5 × $12.00)

$72.00

Total

40


$504.00

In Nevada, overtime also counts by the day for employees paid less than $18.00 an hour: hours past 8 in a day are paid at 1.5 times the regular rate, however short the week (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ). Under the federal rule alone, Ana's 40-hour week would earn no overtime at all. 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.

Ana's $12.00 is under the $18.00 line, so her two long days earn overtime. A cook paid $18.00 or more would earn it only past 40 hours in the week (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ).

Tip pooling rules in Nevada

Nevada has its own tip-pool rules (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ): An employer may not take any part of employees' tips or count them toward the minimum wage. It may require a tip pool that includes employees of different ranks, as long as all the tips go to the employees and the employer keeps none of them.

Federal rules apply too, and where the two differ, follow the stricter one (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.
  • Kitchen staff: federal law lets a pool you require include cooks and dishwashers only when everyone in it gets at least the full minimum wage and no tip credit is taken, which in Nevada is always the case.
  • 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 Nevada

Nevada has its own overtime rule (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ): An employee who earns less than $18.00 an hour gets 1.5 times the regular rate for time worked over 8 hours in a 24-hour period, or over 40 hours in a workweek; an employee who earns $18.00 or more gets it only for time over 40 hours in a workweek. The one exception to the daily rule is an employee who agrees to work four 10-hour shifts.

The federal rule applies to covered employers as well: at least 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek (US DOL, overtime). Where the two differ, pay the higher amount.

Nevada's overtime law, daily and weekly, doesn't reach a business with gross sales under $250,000 a year, or employees under a union contract that provides otherwise; the federal weekly rule can still apply (NRS ch. 608). A workday is the 24 hours from when the employee starts work (NRS ch. 608).

Breaks in Nevada

  • Meal breaks: A meal period of at least 30 minutes in a continuous 8-hour work period; a break shorter than 30 minutes doesn't interrupt the continuous period. It doesn't apply where only one person works at a place of employment, or to employees under a union contract, and the Labor Commissioner can grant exemptions for business necessity (NRS ch. 608).
  • Rest breaks: A paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours of work or major fraction of 4, near the middle of each work period where practicable, counted as hours worked; not needed when the whole day's work is under 3.5 hours. The same exceptions as for the meal period apply (NRS ch. 608).
  • Minors: No separate Nevada rule for minors; the adult rules above apply to them too (NRS ch. 609).

Other Nevada rules that affect pay

  • Paid sick leave: A private employer with 50 or more employees in Nevada gives at least 0.01923 hours of paid leave for each hour worked, about one hour for every 52, usable from the 90th day of employment for any reason, without giving one. The employer may limit use to 40 hours a year and carryover to 40 hours. A new business is exempt for its first 2 years, and so is an employer whose own paid leave policy gives at least as much (NRS ch. 608).

Paydays, uniforms, deductions and trial shifts

  • Twice a month. Pay at least twice a month. Someone you fire is owed their wages immediately; someone who quits, by their next regular payday or within 7 days, whichever is earlier (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ).
  • Uniforms are on you. A uniform or accessory distinctive in style, color or material is provided free (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ).
  • Deductions need a specific signed authorization that states the amount, the purpose and the pay period (Nevada Labor Commissioner FAQ).
  • Trial shifts are paid. You can't have anyone work without wages during a trial or break-in period (NRS ch. 608).
  • A pay cut needs notice. Tell the employee in writing at least 7 days before they work at the lower rate (NRS ch. 608).

Local rates in Nevada

We found no Nevada city or county with its own minimum wage, so the state figures apply across Nevada.

Food handler cards in Clark County

In Clark County, the Southern Nevada Health District requires everyone who works in a food establishment to hold its food handler safety training card before starting work (SNHD Food Regulations). The card is good for 3 years (SNHD, food handler cards).

How Mays helps

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

  • Positions and wages. Give each position a default hourly wage of at least the minimum wage that applies where you are, servers included, since Nevada has no tip credit. 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. 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. 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. With Labor law compliance on, Mays can take your card processor's fee out of card tips, but check Nevada's rule before you turn that on: the tip pool card links the official source.
  • 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.
  • Daily overtime. Turn on Labor law compliance and Mays applies Nevada's daily overtime at each Nevada location, from its address, only to people paid under $18.00 an hour; a pay period's Compact layout shows each person's regular and overtime hours. Leave the org-wide Daily OT threshold under Scheduling → Settings blank: it counts daily overtime for everyone, staff paid $18.00 or more included. Mays counts each shift toward the day it starts, not a 24-hour period from the start of work, and doesn't know about an agreed schedule of four 10-hour days, so check those yourself.
  • Breaks at the time clock. Under a location's Labor & compliance card, add Nevada's paid 10-minute rest break and 30-minute meal period as custom breaks. Outside California, Mays doesn't track missed breaks, so review punches yourself.
  • Paid leave. Mark your paid leave category This is paid sick / safe leave under Scheduling → Settings → Time off & PTO accrual. With Labor law compliance on, it then shows Nevada's rules for each location, and Apply these rules fills them in: the accrual rate in the law above, use of up to 40 hours a year, Nevada's carryover limit, and the 90-day wait for new hires, counted from the Hire date on each person's Employment tab. Everyone who works hours earns it from approved punches, managers included.

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 Nevada payroll on the right numbers

Set each position's wage, turn on the tip pool with managers left out, and turn on Labor law compliance so the time clock counts overtime by the day and 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.