If you have identified a candidate under the age of 21 you wish to recruit, you should familiarise yourself with the law on engaging junior employees. Employees under 21 years of age are considered junior employees. As such, the law treats them differently in some respects. This article will set out what an employer needs to think about when engaging a junior employee, including:
- minimum age requirements;
- parent or guardian involvement;
- pay; and
- work health and safety obligations.
Minimum Age Requirements
Some states and territories have minimum wage requirements. In New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, there’s generally no minimum age to start work. However, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia have a minimum wage of 13 years to start work.
Employers need to understand that, generally, a job should not adversely affect a person’s ability to receive an education (if they are still of school age). That is why when hiring junior workers with school commitments, it is best to hire them on a casual or permanent part-time basis. This will ensure that the job does not adversely affect their ability to receive an education.
As an employer, understand your essential employment obligations with this free LegalVision factsheet.
Parent or Guardian Involvement
All employees, including juniors, should sign an employment agreement. This agreement should set out the rights and obligations of both the junior employee and you, the employer. However, if the junior employee is under 18, you should ensure their parent or guardian countersigns the agreement.
If the employee is over 18 years of age, as a legal adult, they can sign the agreement independently.
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Pay rates for junior employees are set out in a modern award or enterprise agreement, as most junior employees will be covered by one. If you’re unfamiliar with modern awards, they set out the minimum terms and conditions of employment on top of the National Employment Standards (NES). Additionally, you can learn more about modern awards in Australia.
From 1 July 2023, the adult minimum wage for permanent employees is $23.23 per hour. The adult minimum wage for casual employees is $29.03 per hour. Junior employees are entitled to the following percentages of these amounts based on their employment arrangement and age:
| Age | Percentage |
| Under 16 | 36.8% |
| 16 | 47.3% |
| 17 | 57.8% |
| 18 | 68.3% |
| 19 | 82.5% |
| 20 | 97.7% |
Work Health and Safety Obligations
All employers are a general duty to ensure the workplace complies with work health and safety obligations. But where you employ junior employers, you should especially heed these obligations. This is because the law considers them less likely to speak up if something is wrong. Accordingly, the law holds you to a higher standard to ensure the workplace is safe.
Some practical considerations to ensure you comply with these obligations include:
- taking time to thoroughly explain workplace policies and procedures (especially in relation to work health and safety, harassment and bullying);
- having open communication lines so that the junior employee feels supported and listened to;
- making it clear who the junior employee should speak to if they have any questions; and
- being conscious of when and how long the junior employee is working to ensure that they aren’t working too late during the week (especially if they are at school).
Key Takeaways
Hiring junior employees, anyone under 21 years of age, is very common in Australia. However, employers must be aware of a few key considerations that may differ from hiring adult employees.
If you’d like to hire a junior employee and would like to chat through it first, it’s a good idea to speak to our experienced employment lawyers, who can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Under the Fair Work Act, employees under 21 years of age are considered junior employees.
Pay rates for junior employees are set out in a modern award or enterprise agreement, as most junior employees will be covered by one. If you’re unfamiliar with modern awards, they set out the minimum terms and conditions of employment on top of the National Employment Standards (NES). If your junior employee isn’t covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement (although this would be unlikely), they would be entitled to a percentage of the minimum wage for adults under the NES based on their age.
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