Tipped workers must always earn the full minimum wage.
Colorado allows employers to claim a tip credit — paying tipped workers $12.14 cash per hour and counting tips toward the $15.16 state minimum. But if tips fall short, the employer owes the difference. Local jurisdictions (Denver, Edgewater, Boulder County) layer their own rates on top.
Tipped Wage Shortfall Reconciliation
Calculates whether each tipped worker's cash wage plus tips reaches the applicable minimum wage for every pay period. If short, automatically reconciles the difference on payroll close.
What those rules do when tips don't reach minimum.
The hero card configuration: Critical on payroll close shortfalls, Flag on the timesheet for the make-up pay. Here's what each does at runtime.
When a tipped worker's cash wage plus reported tips falls below the applicable minimum, payroll close surfaces a Critical indicator. "Worker shortfall: $X owed to bring to minimum wage." Close requires acknowledgment.
The reconciling amount auto-adds to the timesheet as a separate Flag-tagged line: "Tip credit make-up." Payroll runs the line at full minimum without manual input.
Deploy tip reconciliation in your Teambridge.
Tell us about your tipped workforce. We'll spin up tip credit reconciliation — alongside the other 17 Colorado policies — in a sandbox tenant.
Cash plus tips, every pay period, every worker.
The reconciliation must happen each pay period — not annually, not 'on average.' Each tipped worker's effective hourly rate must reach the applicable minimum.
The reconciliation period
Each pay period stands alone for reconciliation. A worker who earned strong tips Saturday cannot use those to cover a shortfall on Wednesday's slow shift if those days are in different pay periods.
Local rate adjustments
Tip credit math changes by jurisdiction. Denver's tipped minimum is $16.27 (vs $19.29 minimum). Edgewater's is $13.50 (vs $18.17). Boulder County has its own rate. Each jurisdiction's reconciliation must use that jurisdiction's full minimum.
Teambridge reconciles tip credits per pay period, per jurisdiction, automatically.
Tip reconciliation is the kind of math nobody wants to do manually — and nobody does it correctly when they try.
Real-time tip totals tracked.
Tipped workers declare tips through the worker app at end of shift. The total combines with cash wage to compute effective hourly rate.
Local rate determines the floor.
If the shift was in Denver, reconciliation targets $19.29. If Edgewater, $18.17. If state-only, $15.16. The applicable floor is determined per shift segment.
Shortfalls surface as Critical.
On pay-period close, any worker whose cash + tips fell short surfaces with the exact dollar amount owed. The close report shows the reconciliation calculation.
Reconciling line added to the paycheck.
Teambridge adds a 'Tip credit make-up' line to the timesheet equal to the shortfall. Payroll processes it as standard wages on the regular paycheck.
Still evaluating? Get a free Colorado compliance audit.
Send us your existing Colorado scheduling and pay configuration. Our compliance team returns a written audit within 5 business days — every Colorado-specific exposure ranked by risk and back-pay liability.