After a decision made by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), young retail workers at level four or above will no longer be paid junior employee rates from the 1^st of February 2021.

Who is classified as a junior employee?

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, junior employees are employees who are less than 21 years old.

Note: this is then further split into age groups where each age group will have a different minimum pay rate.

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) national secretary Gerard Dwyer stated that previous arrangements discriminated against adult and junior workers. He also said that “It discriminated against junior workers because they were doing the work of an adult and getting a lower rate of pay”.

Australian Retailers Association chief executive Paul Zahra has said that the pay rise will see junior applicants left to fight for the same positions as more seasoned employees.

The FWC’s decision to increase wages will have level four workers aged 15 or younger seeing a pay rise of over double their current pay. As of now, they are currently earning $10.21 an hour and this will increase to $23.10 an hour starting next February taking into account the additional general retail pay rise of 1.75 per cent that also takes place on the same date, making it an increase of $12.89.

When will the pay rise for young retail workers take place?

The pay rise for young retail workers will be effective as of 1 February 2021.