The subminimum wage for workers under 20
A federal training wage lets employers pay $4.25 an hour to workers under 20 for the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment. It comes from the 1989 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act and it is one of the few wage floors that applies to a person rather than a job.
The three conditions
- The worker must be under 20 at the start of the period.
- The period is 90 consecutive calendar days, not 90 days worked. A weekend-only job burns the whole window in thirteen weeks.
- The employer may not displace a worker aged 20 or over to hire a younger one at the lower rate.
Three calendar days before the ninetieth day, the rate steps to the full minimum, which may be the federal $7.25 or a higher state rate. The step is automatic and does not need a new agreement.
Where it does not apply
States may set their own rules, and many do. Where a state youth or training rate exists, compare it to $4.25 and apply the higher. In a $15 state, the youth rate is often still a real discount, but check whether the state has its own 90-day formula with a different clock.
The rotation trap
Because the 90 days is per employment period, an employer cannot restart it with a break of a day. Only a genuine break in the employment relationship resets the clock, and a short seasonal layoff followed by rehire has been treated both ways depending on the facts.
What to check on a first stub
Confirm the rate, the start date and the calendar day the 90 run out. If a stub in week fourteen still shows $4.25, that is an underpayment for every hour worked from day ninety-one onward, recoverable for two years, or three if the failure was wilful.