Hawaii Minimum Wage — As of January 1, 2026, the minimum wage in Hawaii is $16.00 per hour, on its way to $18.00 on January 1, 2028. Tipped employees may be paid a $14.75 cash wage only if their tips bring total hourly pay to at least $23.00 — otherwise the employer must pay the full $16.00.
Hawaii Overtime — Non-exempt employees earn 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a week, under Hawaii’s own wage-and-hour law. A unique feature: employees guaranteed at least $4,000 per month are exempt from the state’s minimum-wage and overtime requirements. Hawaii also polices service charges — hotels and restaurants must pass them on to workers as tips or clearly tell customers the charge is not a gratuity. A frequent problem is employers treating automatic service charges as tips without distributing them to staff.
