Originally Posted by
xanthuos
The minimum wage that wait staff are paid is, IIRC, $2.89/hr. Tips are expected to bring their average hourly to the Federal/State regular minimum wage.
...and in the great majority of cases to well above it. Indeed, it would be perverse to require the full minimum base pay for those who had substantial tip income - as it would in effect be defining a much higher minimum wage for some workers than for others.