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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>77484</law_id><section_number>40.1-28.9</section_number><catch_line>(Effective July 1, 2030) Definitions; determining wage of tipped employee</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="40.1">Labor and Employment</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="3">Protection of Employees</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="1.1">Virginia Minimum Wage Act</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> As used in this article:
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Adjusted state hourly minimum wage</span>&#x201D; means the amount established by the <span class="dictionary">Commissioner</span> pursuant to subsection F of &#xA7;&#xA0;<a class="law" title="Minimum wages" href="/40.1-28.10/">40.1-28.10</a>.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Domestic service</span>&#x201D; means services related to the care of an individual in a private home or the maintenance of a private home or its premises, on a permanent or temporary basis, including services performed by individuals such as companions, cooks, waiters, butlers, maids, valets, and chauffeurs.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Employee</span>&#x201D; includes any individual employed by an <span class="dictionary">employer</span>. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Employee</span>&#x201D; includes a <span class="dictionary">home care provider</span>. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Employee</span>&#x201D; does not include the following: <a id="paragraph-277947" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Any person employed as a farm laborer or farm <span class="dictionary">employee</span>; <a id="paragraph-277948" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> Any person engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, or nonprofit organization where the relationship of <span class="dictionary">employer</span>-<span class="dictionary">employee</span> does not, in <span class="dictionary">fact</span>, exist or where the services rendered to such organization are on a voluntary basis; <a id="paragraph-277949" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A3" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> Caddies on golf courses; <a id="paragraph-277950" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A4" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> Traveling salesmen or outside salesmen working on a <span class="dictionary">commission</span> basis; taxicab drivers and operators; <a id="paragraph-277951" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A5" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> Any person under the age of 18 in the <span class="dictionary">employ</span> of his parent or legal guardian; <a id="paragraph-277952" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A6" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">6.</span> Any person confined in any penal or corrective institution of the Commonwealth or any of its political subdivisions or admitted to a state hospital or training center operated by the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services; <a id="paragraph-277953" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A6"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A7" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">7.</span> Any person employed by a summer camp for boys, girls, or both boys and girls; <a id="paragraph-277954" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A7"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A8" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">8.</span> Any person under the age of 16, regardless of by whom employed; <a id="paragraph-277955" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A8"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A9" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">9.</span> Students participating in a bona fide educational program; <a id="paragraph-277956" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A9"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A10" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">10.</span> Any person who is less than 18 years of age and who is currently enrolled on a full-time basis in any secondary school, institution of higher education, or trade school, provided that the person is not employed more than 20 hours per week; <a id="paragraph-277957" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A10"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A11" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">11.</span> Any person of any age who is currently enrolled on a full-time basis in any secondary school, institution of higher education, or trade school and is in a work-study program or its equivalent at the institution at which he is enrolled as a student; <a id="paragraph-277958" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A11"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A12" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">12.</span> Any person who works as a babysitter for fewer than 10 hours per week; <a id="paragraph-277959" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A12"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A13" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">13.</span> Any person participating as an au pair in the U.S. <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of State&#x2019;s Exchange Visitor Program governed by 22 C.F.R. &#xA7; 62.31; <a id="paragraph-277960" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A13"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A14" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">14.</span> Any individual employed as a temporary foreign worker as governed by 20 C.F.R. Part 655; and <a id="paragraph-277961" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A14"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="A15" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">15.</span> Any person who is exempt from the <span class="dictionary">federal minimum wage</span> pursuant to 29 U.S.C. &#xA7; 213(a)(3).
				&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Employer</span>&#x201D; includes any individual, partnership, association, corporation, or business trust or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an <span class="dictionary">employer</span> in relation to an employee. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Employer</span>&#x201D; includes the Commonwealth, any of its agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions, and any public body.
				&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Federal minimum wage</span>&#x201D; means the minimum wage or, if applicable, the federal training wage prescribed by the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. &#xA7; 201 et seq.
				&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Home care provider</span>&#x201D; means an individual who provides (i) home health services, including services provided by or under the direct supervision of any health care professional under a medical plan of care in a patient&#x2019;s residence on a visit or hourly basis to patients who have or are at risk of injury, illness, or a disabling condition and require short-term or long-term interventions, or (ii) personal care services, including assistance in personal care to include activities of a daily living provided in an individual&#x2019;s residence on a visit or hourly basis to individuals who have or are at risk of an illness, injury, or disabling condition.
				&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Tipped employee</span>&#x201D; means an employee who in the course of employment customarily and regularly receives tips totaling more than $30 each month from persons other than the employee&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">employer</span>.
				&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Wages</span>&#x201D; means legal tender of the United States or checks or drafts on banks negotiable into cash on demand or upon acceptance at full value. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Wages</span>&#x201D; includes the reasonable cost to the <span class="dictionary">employer</span> of furnishing meals and lodging to an employee if such <span class="dictionary">board</span> or lodging is customarily furnished by the <span class="dictionary">employer</span> and used by the employee. <a id="paragraph-277962" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#A15"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> In determining the wage of a <span class="dictionary">tipped employee</span>, the amount paid such employee by his <span class="dictionary">employer</span> shall be deemed to be increased on account of tips by an amount determined by the <span class="dictionary">employer</span>, except in the case of an employee who establishes by clear and convincing <span class="dictionary">evidence</span> that the actual amount of tips received by him was less than the amount determined by the <span class="dictionary">employer</span>. In such case, the amount paid such employee by his <span class="dictionary">employer</span> shall be deemed to have been increased by such lesser amount. An <span class="dictionary">employer</span> shall not classify an individual as a <span class="dictionary">tipped employee</span> if the individual is prohibited by applicable federal or state <span class="dictionary">law</span> or regulation from soliciting tips. <a id="paragraph-277963" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/40.1-28.9/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>1975, c. 530; 1976, c. 442; 1977, c. 432; 2007, cc. 816, 832; 2012, cc. 476, 507; 2014, c. 734; 2019, cc. 330, 331; 2020, cc. 1145, 1146, 1147, 1204, 1242; 2023, c. 782.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
