Working World

My 16-year-old daughter is making less than minimum wage at her first summer job. She was told that minimum wage doesn't apply to teenage workers. Is this true?

Prior to 2001, minors were broadly exempted from minimum wage requirements, but now they’re now generally subject to the same ones in California as other workers.

Only under extremely limited circumstances can workers be paid less than the minimum wage. The federal and state laws regulating payment of a sub-minimum wage are different, and an employer must comply with both.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) permits an employer to pay an “opportunity wage,” which is less than the usual minimum. This wage is currently $4.25 per hour and may be paid only to employees who are under 20 years of age for their first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment.

State law permits an employer to pay “learners” 85 percent of the California minimum wage, but in no event less than $6.38 per hour for the first 160 work hours. “Learners” are workers who have no previous similar or related experience in the occupation.

There are special rules for camp counselors, regardless of age. These counselors may be paid a weekly salary amounting to 85 percent of the minimum wage for a 40-hour week, regardless of the amount of hours worked per week. If the counselors work fewer than 40 hours in the week, then they must be paid at least 85 percent of the minimum wage for the actual hours worked.

In short, even if your daughter qualified for a learner’s rate of pay, that pay rate would expire after 160 hours of actual work — in other words, fairly quickly. At that point, she should be sure to remind her employer that she is entitled to a raise to at least minimum wage.

Amy Semmel is an attorney with the firm of Donfeld, Kelley & Rollman. Her practice emphasizes employment, trade secret and business tort law. The information discussed here is a general explanation of the law, and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Readers requiring legal advice regarding a specific situation should consult an employment attorney.