> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.centsless.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# POST /tip/validate-compliance — Tip credit validation

> Check whether a merchant's hourly wage and average tips meet FLSA and state tip credit requirements. Pass the state, declared wage, and average tips per hour.

Tip credit compliance varies significantly by state: some states disallow the tip credit entirely, others set minimum declared wage floors above the federal requirement, and some follow FLSA defaults. Use this endpoint to verify that a merchant's combination of hourly wage and average tips meets both the federal FLSA threshold and any applicable state-specific rules before running payroll.

## Endpoint

```
POST https://api.centsless.org/api/v1/tip/validate-compliance
```

## Authentication

All requests require an `x-api-key` header.

## Request body

<ParamField body="state" type="string" required>
  Two-letter U.S. state code for the state whose tip credit rules you want to validate against. Example: `IN`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="hourly_wage" type="number" required>
  The employee's declared hourly wage in dollars. Example: `7.25`
</ParamField>

<ParamField body="average_tips_per_hour" type="number" required>
  The employee's average tip earnings per hour in dollars. Example: `3.50`
</ParamField>

## Code example

```bash theme={null}
curl -X POST https://api.centsless.org/api/v1/tip/validate-compliance \
  -H "x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "state": "IN",
    "hourly_wage": 7.25,
    "average_tips_per_hour": 3.50
  }'
```

## Response

The response indicates whether the provided wage and tip combination complies with FLSA requirements and the specified state's tip credit regulations. Non-compliant results include details on which requirement was not met.

<Note>
  This endpoint validates compliance for a single employee's wage configuration. Run it before processing payroll for tipped employees whenever you expand into a new state or update wage rates.
</Note>