Tennessee Minimum Wage Calculator

💡 Tennessee Wage Law Essentials

• Standard Minimum Rate: Tennessee does not have a state minimum wage statute. Employers default to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) statutory baseline of $7.25/hour.
• Municipal Preemption: Under Tennessee state law (T.C.A. § 50-2-112), municipal governments and county commissions (such as Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga) are barred from establishing local minimum wage mandates.
• Tipped Minimum Cash Wage: Employers may pay an hourly direct cash wage of $2.13/hour and claim up to a $5.12/hour tip credit for workers who regularly receive more than $30/month in tips.
• Tip Shortfall Guarantee: If direct cash pay ($2.13/hr) plus employee tips average less than $7.25/hr across all hours worked during the workweek, the employer must cover the entire shortfall in direct cash pay.
• Youth & Student Rates: Newly hired workers under 20 years old may receive an opportunity training wage of $4.25/hour for their initial 90 consecutive calendar days. Certified full-time students may be paid 85% ($6.16/hour).
• Overtime Pay: Non-exempt hours exceeding 40 in a workweek must be paid at 1.5× regular pay. For tipped workers, direct cash overtime is $(1.5 \times \text{Base Minimum Wage}) - \text{Tip Credit} = (1.5 \times \$7.25) - \$5.12 = \$10.875 - \$5.12 = \$5.755 \approx \$5.76/\text{hour}$.