How Much Is Minimum Wage in Utah: Tipped, Exempt, and Overtime Rules

The minimum wage in Utah is $7.25 per hour, the same as the federal minimum wage. State law ties Utah’s rate directly to the federal floor, and no city or county in Utah is allowed to set a higher local rate. A handful of workers can legally be paid less, including tipped employees, workers under 20 during their first 90 days, and certified student-learners. Some salaried white-collar employees are exempt from minimum wage rules altogether.

Why the Rate Is $7.25

Utah’s $7.25 rate has been in effect since July 24, 2009, when the last federal increase took effect under 29 U.S.C. § 206(a)(1)(C).¹ Utah Code § 34-40-102 requires that the state’s wage rules be interpreted consistently with the Fair Labor Standards Act, and § 34-40-103 caps the state minimum wage at the federal level.² If Congress raises the federal minimum wage, Utah’s rate adjusts automatically.

The Utah Labor Commission, through its Division of Antidiscrimination and Labor (UALD), enforces state wage requirements and investigates complaints.³

No Higher Local Rate Anywhere in the State

Cities, towns, and counties in Utah cannot establish a local minimum wage above the federal rate. Utah Code § 34-40-106 also bars local governments from requiring contractors to pay more than $7.25 or giving preference to businesses that do so, unless federal funding on a project mandates specific wage rates.² The same $7.25 applies in Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden, St. George, and every other community in the state.

Tipped Employees Can Be Paid $2.13 Per Hour

Employers can pay tipped workers a cash wage as low as $2.13 per hour if the employee regularly receives at least $30 in tips per month. The employer claims a “tip credit” for the difference between $2.13 and $7.25.⁴ If tips plus the $2.13 cash wage do not reach at least $7.25 for every hour worked, the employer has to make up the difference.

Before using the tip credit, the employer must tell the employee about it, including how much will be claimed and that tips belong to the employee.

Tip Pools

Federal law allows employers to require tipped workers to share tips through a pool, but managers and supervisors cannot take a share of pooled tips. That rule applies whether or not the employer takes a tip credit.⁵ Employers themselves are also barred from keeping any portion of employee tips.

Training Wage for Workers Under 20

Employers can pay $4.25 per hour to employees under 20 during their first 90 consecutive calendar days on the job. Once the 90 days end, or the worker turns 20, whichever comes first, the full $7.25 rate kicks in. An employer cannot lay off or cut hours of existing workers to hire young employees at the lower rate; doing so violates the FLSA.¹

Student-Learner Rate

Students enrolled in accredited vocational training programs can be paid 75% of the minimum wage, or $5.44 per hour, if the employer holds a special student-learner certificate issued by the U.S. Department of Labor.⁶ Combined school instruction and employment training generally cannot exceed 40 hours per week. Without a valid certificate, the employer owes the full $7.25.

Who Is Exempt From Minimum Wage

Employees in executive, administrative, and professional roles can be classified as exempt, meaning neither minimum wage nor overtime rules apply. To qualify, an employee must meet two tests: a salary threshold and a job-duties test.

Salary Threshold

An exempt employee generally has to earn at least $684 per week ($35,568 per year) on a salaried basis. The Department of Labor tried to raise this threshold to $1,128 per week in 2024, but a federal court vacated that rule in November 2024, leaving the 2019 level in place.⁷

Duties Test

Hitting the salary number alone is not enough. The employee’s actual job has to match one of these categories:⁸

Executive, where the main job is managing the business or a recognized department within it.
Administrative, meaning office or non-manual work related to business operations that regularly involves independent judgment on significant matters.
Learned professional, requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning, typically gained through specialized education.
Creative professional, requiring invention, imagination, or originality in a recognized artistic or creative field.

Earn under $684 per week, or do work that does not fit one of these categories, and you are entitled to the minimum wage and overtime.

When Overtime Kicks In

Utah does not have a broad state overtime law for private employers. Utah Code § 34-30-8 covers only work done by or for state, county, or municipal governments.⁹ For private-sector workers, overtime runs through the federal FLSA.

Non-exempt employees get one and a half times their regular rate for every hour over 40 in a single workweek. Three things trip people up:

The 40-hour trigger is weekly, not daily. A 12-hour shift earns no overtime if weekly hours stay at or below 40.
Only hours actually worked count. Paid time off, holidays, and sick leave are excluded unless the employer’s own policy says otherwise.
The employer decides when the seven-day workweek begins and ends for payroll purposes.

Time spent traveling between job sites during a workday counts as hours worked, as does employer-required training. Training only falls outside paid hours if it takes place outside normal work hours, attendance is voluntary, the content is not directly related to the job, and the employee does no other work during the session.¹⁰

If Your Employer Is Not Paying Minimum Wage

You can file a complaint with UALD by completing a Wage Claim Assignment Form, available on the Utah Labor Commission’s website.¹¹ You will need the dates worked and the amounts your employer failed to pay. UALD then contacts the employer and investigates. If it finds a violation, it issues an order for the wages owed plus a penalty under the Utah Payment of Wages Act. You can also file a lawsuit in state or federal court to recover unpaid wages and liquidated damages under the FLSA.¹²

What the Employer Owes

Under the Utah Payment of Wages Act, UALD can assess a penalty of 5% of the unpaid wages per day for up to 20 days.¹³ On $500 in back wages, that is $25 per day, up to $500 total in penalties. The Utah Labor Commission can also pursue criminal prosecution against employers who violate the minimum wage law.²

Under the FLSA, an employer who fails to pay the minimum wage or required overtime owes the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, effectively doubling the payout.¹² The employer can avoid liquidated damages only by proving to a court that the violation was in good faith with reasonable grounds for believing it was lawful.¹⁴ The Department of Labor can also impose civil fines of up to $2,515 per repeated or willful violation.¹⁵

You Cannot Be Punished for Filing

Federal law makes it illegal for an employer to fire, demote, or otherwise punish you for filing a wage complaint, whether with UALD, the federal Wage and Hour Division, or internally with your employer. The protection applies even if your job is not covered by the FLSA, and it extends to former employees.¹⁶ If your employer retaliates, you can file a separate retaliation complaint or sue for reinstatement, lost wages, and liquidated damages.

Deadlines

A claim for unpaid wages generally has to be filed within two years of the violation. If the violation was willful, the deadline extends to three years.¹⁷ Waiting too long forfeits the wages.

$7.25 vs. the Cost of Living

A full-time worker earning $7.25 grosses about $15,080 per year before taxes on a 2,080-hour work year. MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimates that a single adult with no children in Utah needs roughly $24.71 per hour to cover housing, food, transportation, and healthcare.¹⁸ The gap of more than $17 per hour is why many minimum-wage workers in Utah hold multiple jobs or rely on public assistance.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 206 – Minimum Wage
2
Utah Legislature. Utah Code Title 34 Chapter 40 – Utah Minimum Wage Act
3
Utah Labor Commission. Utah Antidiscrimination and Labor (UALD)
4
Cornell Law Institute. Utah Admin Code R610-1-4 – Tips and Commissions
5
eCFR. 29 CFR 531.54 – Tip Pooling
6
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 520 Subpart E – Student-Learners
7
DOL.gov. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemption
8
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 17A – Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees Under the FLSA
9
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 34-30-8 – Forty-Hour Work Week, Overtime at One and One-Half Regular Rate
10
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 22 – Hours Worked Under the FLSA
11
Utah Labor Commission. Wage Claim
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 216 – Penalties
13
Utah Legislature. Utah Code 34-28-9
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 260 – Liquidated Damages
15
U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments
16
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77A – Prohibiting Retaliation Under the FLSA
17
eCFR. 5 CFR 551.702 – Time Limits
18
MIT. Living Wage Calculation for Utah