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    Fair Work Commission abolishes junior pay rates for young adults
    Australia

    Fair Work Commission abolishes junior pay rates for young adults

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    29 Comments

    2. Misguided_Pacifist on

      Fantastic news. For reference, currently an 18yo casual under the retail award earns $23.24/hour compared to a 21yo earning $33.19, 42.8% higher.

    3. fued on

      They will just stopping given shifts at 18 rather than 20 now i guess?

      demand for 16-18 year old workers will increase tho

    4. heisdeadjim_au on

      Not before bloody time.

      I’m tired of seeing “Junior wanted. Must have full tools open licence (no PS) and five years experience. Junior rates apply”.

      Utter codswallop. Some employers have been rorting Junior wages to either underpay qualified employees and or post ads like that and complain “people don’t wanna work anymore”.

    5. Weissritters on

      Businesses will keep doing the same thing but move the ages forward a bit. Demand for below 18 year olds will increase at the expense of 18-21 year olds

      Hope they got a good enforcement system. There will be no shortage of people trying to skimp on the rules

    6. ArabellaFort on

      I was paid $270 a week (after tax) as a full time office junior back in 1999. Even then it was not a liveable wage.

    7. mediweevil on

      coming up next – 18/19/20 YOs complaining they can’t get a job in retail, fast food, and pharmacy.

    8. tal_itha on

      Fair Work Commission abolishes junior pay rates for **SOME** 18-20 year olds

      > The Fair Work Commission has issued its decision to abolish junior pay rates for young adult employees in the retail, fast food, and pharmacy sectors

      So juniors in other industries continue not to get the same pay for the same work then?

    9. amor__fati___ on

      Next step: complaints about the prices increasing at companies employing these age groups.

      This is what a wage-price spiral looks like, and the regulators seem keen to take it up a notch.

    10. lostonaforum on

      Good, I had to leave home and become independent at 16. Spending 5 years being incredibly underpaid was a nightmare. I had to cover the same expenses as everyone else while getting paid alot less.

    11. marcusintatrex on

      Watch a sweaty grease dripped person named Innes tell us how this is a bad thing actually. Three things the gremlin hates: shampoo, showers, and workers.

    12. jojoblogs on

      I thought these rates were a thing to incentivise businesses hiring inexperienced workers? Is that not a thing anymore?

    14. Late-Button-6559 on

      So only kids working in retail now 🙁

      I 100% agree with this rule change, but 100% believe it’ll only lead to worse outcomes for everyone.

    15. No-Bison-5397 on

      Good. Better for older workers who won’t be undercut by businesses just hiring the young.

    16. Hydronum on

      Many people here aren’t going to like it, but this has been pushed by the SDA, hence why it is limited to the industries covered by them. If your industry still has Junior rates, perhaps it is time to tap your union on the shoulder to fix this, because even the SDA can get something changed, other unions don’t have an excuse.

    17. Mrtodaytomorrow on

      Junior rates will remain exactly the same for 17 year-olds and younger. 18-20 year-olds need to do more than 6 months with their employer before getting adult rates (which coincidentally is the same period that they are not protected from unfair dismissal), in industries with high churn rates. And this isn’t even fully phased in until 1 July 2029. Not exactly a huge win.

      Too bad the SDA rammed the Coles and Woolworths enterprise agreements down workers’ throats – they didn’t seem to have a problem with junior rates then!

    19. BorisBC on

      But how will the young uns make jokes about being paid 2/3 of a regular wage like I’ve been dining out on for years?

      Lol jks this is a great idea and not before time.

    20. CrazyEeveeLady86 on

      Should have been done years ago.

      It would make sense to have a lower pay rate for staff who are brand new to a job for the first few months or so, but after that people doing the same job should get the same pay. It used to annoy the hell out of me when I worked in retail in my teens busting my arse and doing most of the work for significantly less pay than the middle-aged women who stood around most of their shift whining about how their feet hurt even though they were doing almost nothing.

    21. lookashinyobject on

      About time, when I was in my early 20s working in hospitality you could tell the moment a bartender turned 20, as they would get less and less shifts until you only saw them at most once a fortnight until they eventually quit

    23. ABitMadHS on

      Wait doesn’t this just sound good on paper? Won’t it just push employers to hire more experienced older people over the younger generation as there’s no incentive now?

    24. rylo151 on

      Those under 18 should get a pay rise as well, 15 year olds are making 15 dollars an hour while an adult gets 34, Far too often while doing the same amount of work. I get it that there should be incentive to employ young people so they can get experience but 50% less pay is too much. At least make it 75% or something.

    25. gold-magikarp on

      I remember when I worked at a fast food place during school we were all berated for being dumb kids, but they wouldn’t give anyone over 19 any hours because they wanted everyone on junior rates. I still have nightmares about that place.

    26. Different_Ease_7539 on

      And so adults with real work experience and real bills to pay and people to care for, can be prioritised for employment ahead of low pay juniors.

    28. Plenty-Giraffe6022 on

      And it’s about bloody time. I’ve never been paid junior rates, but I’ve never understood why many people under 21 got paid much less that people older than 20.

    29. Southern-Key-9721 on

      When I got my first casual job at 15, my starting pay was literally $6/hr, that was only in the early 2010s. I slowly got paid more as I got older, but nothing about my job, responsibilities, or effectiveness changed.