Minimum Wage in Texas

The Texas Minimum Wage Act: 

• Sets a minimum wage for non-exempt employees 

• Requires covered employers to provide each employee with a written earnings statement with information about the employee's pay 

• Designates Texas Workforce Commission as the agency responsible for disseminating information about state minimum wage requirements 

• Contains provisions concerning agricultural piece-rate workers 

• Exempts a variety of employers from its coverage 

• Provides civil remedies for violations

Texas adopts the federal minimum wage rate. Effective July 24, 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. 

With specified restrictions, employers may count tips and the value of meals and lodging toward minimum wage. 

To learn more, visit the TWC's Texas Minimum Wage Law page.

Children (under age 18) are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay.

• Sub-minimum wage of $4.25/hour is permissible during the first 90 days in a job. 

• Children who are tipped employees may be paid the same as other tipped employees. 

• Other sub-minimum wages (generally, 85% of the current minimum wage) may be permissible under special certificates issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for certain student employees and apprentices.

To learn more, visit Texas Child Labor Law on the TWC website.

If you have been paid less than the legal rate, you may choose to take legal action.

You have two years from the date wages were due to file a lawsuit to recover the unpaid wages plus an additional equal amount as liquidated damages. You may also get reasonable attorney's fees and court costs. 

To learn more, visit the TWC's Texas Minimum Wage Law page.

The primary exemption from the Texas Minimum Wage Act is for any person covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). 

Other exemptions include: 

• Employment with religious, educational, charitable, or nonprofit organizations 

• Professionals, salespersons ,or public officials 

• Domestics 

• Certain youths and students 

• Inmates 

• Family members 

• Amusement and recreational establishments

• Non-agricultural employers not liable for state unemployment contributions

• Dairying and production of livestock 

• Sheltered workshops 

To learn more, visit the Wages and Fair Labor Standards Act page on the DOL website. 

To determine whether a business is covered under the FLSA, contact your local U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, or visit the DOL's Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Learn about overtime pay, breaks, holiday pay and more on the Fair Labor Standards Act- What It Does and Does Not Do page and the TWC's Pay and Benefits page.

To learn about deductions from pay, visit the TWC's Deductions from Pay – General page.

To learn more, visit the TWC's Texas Minimum Wage Law page and the DOL's Minimum Wage page.  

Also see the TWC's Texas Guidebook for Employers.