S/O Young people and work - what is your minimum wage?

[bookbard]

22 minutes ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Minimum wages for under 15s in fast food approx $7USD per hour

Minimum wage for my teen under his award at 16 is $15USD per hour

minimum wage for adults is $13USD. I’m not sure if that’s casual or permanent. Keep in mind employers don’t pay health insurance either.

Yes, it really does depend on the award rate; I mean, you can't be paid minimum wage if you're a teacher or whatever. Each industry has its own 'ladder' where the more experience you have, the more you get paid.

Employers don't pay health insurance, but do pay 10% superannuation and also must pay workcover insurance, in case you're injured on the workplace. Also provide paid leave. Unless you're a contract worker, of course - then you're on your own. 

[Melissa Louise]

48 minutes ago, bookbard said:

Yes, it seems really weird that it goes up to 21. My 19yr old niece is living independently and working full time as a manager. No one is subsidising anything. 

It's not just. Equal work should be equal.pay. 

[theelfqueen]

Colorado is $12.56 ($9.54 tipped) 

[fraidycat]

Our current minimum wage is $13, going to $14 next Oct., and $15 Oct 2024.

It is also in the labour standards that employers must provide the schedule at least one week in advance.

[TechWife]

It’s the same as the Federal Rate $7.25. Chick Fil A is starting at $14 and Target is starting at $15. 

[Farrar]

$16.10 highest state level minimum wage. Not that we're a state (support statehood).

ETA: The tipped minimum is about to be changed to head toward matching it in a few years. We keep passing it and the bleeping Council keeps overturning it but this time they can't do it again. There is a very narrow way for young people to be paid less. Young people participating in summer youth employment are not guaranteed that wage and I forget what the wage scale looks like. It's a government funded program where all teens in the city are basically supposed to be offered paid employment. It can work out really well in some ways. A bunch of the programs are good internships so if you're an ambitious high school kid you get paid $10 an hour or something to build your college resume by working in the mayor's office or something like that. Or you get on a track to working at the parks department or get a job with one of the business partnerships and it leads to a "real" job later. But also, there's a lot of make work and what amount to summer leadership camps. So it's a bit of an odd program. I wish it was run better. I know some cool teen employment success stories from it and some big waste of time but at least I got some spending money stories.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Farrar

[EmilyGF]

Thanks everyone! 

When people talked about young people getting jobs, I wondered how your minimum wages compared to our minimum wage.

I think our situation - $15/hr minimum wage AND a high rate of adult unemployment - makes it really difficult for a teen to land a first job. It isn't like Silicon Valley, where I grew up. 

Thanks!

[katilac]

On 11/3/2022 at 4:42 PM, bookbard said:

Yes, it really does depend on the award rate; I mean, you can't be paid minimum wage if you're a teacher or whatever. Each industry has its own 'ladder' where the more experience you have, the more you get paid.

Employers don't pay health insurance, but do pay 10% superannuation and also must pay workcover insurance, in case you're injured on the workplace. Also provide paid leave. Unless you're a contract worker, of course - then you're on your own. 

Okay, so I think I figured out that superannuation is like a retirement account and workcover insurance equates to workmen's comp in the states. Paid leave is not required in the states, and contract work sounds about the same. 

Regarding the award rate: is that saying, for example, that a carpenter with 3 years experience or admin support with 10 years experience must be paid at least this much? 

On 11/3/2022 at 8:53 AM, Granny_Weatherwax said:

This topic (along with the original post) makes me laugh. Min wage here is $12. As an employee required to have prof certification, provide my own liability insurance, provide all of my supplies and gear, I was paid $12 an hour; the same wage as the teenagers who sat at the desk and playing on their phones their entire shift. 

What type of work do you do? There are a fair number of jobs where I live that require the worker to provide their own gear (most often tools but sometimes computers for remote work), but I haven't heard liability insurance mentioned. 

[bookbard]

2 minutes ago, katilac said:

Regarding the award rate: is that saying, for example, that a carpenter with 3 years experience or admin support with 10 years experience must be paid at least this much? 

Yes, that's right. I assume unions worked to get that sort of agreement with the fair work commission. I know for teachers in my state, striking led to a certain pay rise, and that has a pretty strict ladder of increasing pay from year to year (until you hit the top, which can be an issue). Even with retail workers, there's 'retail worker 1' pay vs 'retail worker 2' which have different minimum wages, I assume related to experience.