Hey y'all...
Probably kinda irrelevant more or less but theres no other good online communities to post this in
Im 15 years old (dont hurt me) and i work in some random fruit shop for $6.00000/hour, cash. Does anyone know if their is some minimum wage above $6 that i should be being paid?

no, $6 an hour sounds about right for a 15 year old - quite good actually

minimum wage for a 15 year old is 5.75 a hour but my award may be different to the one ur covered by

http://www.wagenet.gov.au/WageNet/HomePage/HomePage.asp

Hermit are you serious? All these guys are 15...
My mate who works at Bilo - $8.15 an hour
My mate who works at Fish&Chips shop - $7.90 an hour
My mate who works at Woolworths on a part time wage - $8.05 or something
My mate who works at Pick 'n Pay (Coles and Kmart) - $8.55
And some other guy who i know gets over $8 at McDonalds.

So yeah...

Well i did a quick search at wageline and i might be wrong but $6 seems ok ...

You said that your being paid in cash, and in that case, if the boss isnt recording it because you dont earn over $113/week (minimum amount before getting taxed on tax free-threshold) then he can basically pay you whatever he wants. You have to be actually listed on the wage books before you can get an award rate pretty much ...

also alt_f4, i worked at woolies for 18 months, there is no way your mate would be on $8.05/hr if he is part time and 15 yrs old. When i was 16 and working there, i just got $8.40 or something and i was casual, so tell your mate to get his facts right

Actually this place is pretty illegal.
_Everyone_ there gets paid cash, most of the employees (about 10 or so) have been working there ~1+ years or more.
These guys don't even know me, all they know is my first name and thats it.

I had a browse through Wageline and found this, im not sure if its relevant but anyhow:
http://www.ausimages.com/view/2005-02-14/zomg.JPG

Burgz, he gets paid around $110-120 or something a week working part time on Sunday and a weeknight, 13 hours a week or somes***, didnt know exact amount.


Speaking of Sundays and Public holidays, someone told me that _everyone_ working in australia is supposed to be paid time and a half on Sundays and double time and a half on Public holidays? Is this true in most cases? ... Because i get paid $6 an hour no matter what day or time.

^^ Yeah, I'm serious

your employment would be covered by the retail industry award. check the junior rates out at wageline. good luck.

he's paying your tax for you dude !

answer = go work at Woolies then.

end thread.

er 6bucks cash isnt that bad for a 15 year old.

Dude, seriously, if you were paying tax on that you'd be getting a lot less in hand after tax than what yoru getting now.

Don't want to sound too harsh - either get some skills that allow you to earn more (which generally means s*** wages for a while anyway) or change jobs if you feel your being hard done by.

I dont think he is paying tax for me, he wouldnt know how to do that.

And compared to my friends who work at major food chains, all of them work at major companies such as HJ's, KFC, Coles, Woolies etc for $8 or more, and only one of them actually loses a bit to tax at the end of the financial year.

And i cant get a job at woolies as both of the woolies within 10 minutes drive or so seem to be full.

$6 cash for a 15yr old is good.. Your friends get payed more because they work for chains, not an independant store.

Isn't cash in hand illegal if your eligible to pay tax?

I feel your pain kid, really..

well, 20 years ago :/

Seriously buddy, your 15... Either find some magic potion to make you grow old faster or get over it.. your getting more than what i got when i was 15

they're not full, they just don't want a whiny 15 year old who whinges about pay.

if you don't like it, get a new f***ing job.

Try working harder an if your lucky, you might have a boss who takes a liking to your work ethic an will pay you a bit more - kinda like a "man's pay for a man's work"

It does happen

Yes, it is i think.

Anyhow, on QLD Wageline i found this:
Note: In Queensland all employees whether or not they are covered by an award or agreement have a legally enforceable entitlement to a minimum rate of pay no matter what sort of work they do.
http://www.wageline.qld.gov.au/awardsacts/index.html

Then following the link to minimum pay......
http://www.wageline.qld.gov.au/awardsacts/qldminwage.html

And then here it basically says that anyone 17 and under or 1st year of experience must earn at least $6.4270 an hour working Part time or Casual.

if you were paying tax on that you'd be getting a lot less in hand after tax

Huh? Its not like he is getting $500 a week cash in hand.
He probably barely earns over the tax free threshhold (if that)

"Seriously buddy, your 15... Either find some magic potion to make you grow old faster or get over it.. your getting more than what i got when i was 15"

Yes, and assuming your around 20 or so, you probably get more than 40 year olds did when they were 20.


And i'm not sure if i want to ask for a payrise, the last guy my age who did basically got told to f*** off by one of the bosses and he quit the next day.

Seriously what are you going to do?

you:
"umm.. excuse me, it says in the award that i should be getting payed 43c more than what your paying me..."

then your boss will either fire you for being a little annoying s*** or tell you to give him your tax file number.

Sounds pretty dodge that he only asked your first name... Your fault for working for someone like that...

I work around 10-15 hours a week, so $90 max. That comes to ~$4600 which is well under the tax free threshold of around 6000.

And then here it basically says that anyone 17 and under or 1st year of experience must earn at least $6.4270 an hour working Part time or Casual.

without explaining the whole tax thing to you, I'll just say this, $6 an hour cash is more than $6.42 an hour on the books.

Unless of course you work f***all hours and are under the tax threshold entirely.

That 43c would equate to over $100 in lost wages since i've been working there, and most people wouldn't let $100 or more slip...

I am not paying tax as i dont even have a taxfile number. So he hasn't been taking tax out...

Unless of course you work f***all hours and are under the tax threshold entirely.

Fancy that, being 15 and probably at school, this looks like its exactly the case.

I work around 10-15 hours a week

You work f*** all and your whinging about 42c an hour?

If you worked like 30-40+hrs a week i would be having a whinge aswell...

You would be making an extra $6 a week for that 42c..

Ok, i didn't come here to see if you think $6/hour is reasonable for a 15 year old , i wanted to find out if
a) It was + or - the minimum wage and QLG
b) If i am supposed to be paid time and a half on sundays and double time and a half on public holidays ( which i currently am not getting paid)

Fancy that, being 15 and probably at school, this looks like its exactly the case.

15 = grade 10, he could be a drop out working....

a) You are not under an award seeing as you get cash in hand
b) no you do not get 1.5x pay on sunday

if he pays you in cash its unlikely he cares about paying you legal wage and probably wont do s*** if you ask...

find a job at somewhere that doesnt suck

fancy that, bah being a retard again.

alt-f4, get a new job if you don't like it.

my contract says I should be at my desk at 8:30am in the morning and leave at 5pm - I usually arrive around 7:30 am and leave at 6pm or later, big f***ing deal, thats life.

Yes assuming the guy was under the tax free threshhold, very retarded.. oh look he was under it...

So the guy wants to find out what a fair legal wage is, big f***ing deal, you aren't paying it why have a big cry over it.

last edited by Bah at 23:13:54 14/Feb/05

poor spidz :(

its a long hard day at the sperm bank :P

I'm 16 and get payed $9.21 an hour at Coles. When I turn 17 (1 month :D) I will be put up to $10.20.

Moral of the story...? Work at coles when your young ^_^

last edited by dynamite at 23:18:39 14/Feb/05

quit your bitching i started at pizza hut call centre at $3.86 an hour

it is now illegal...

Try working on a sugar cane farm for $7 an hour, then cry me some more.

Kid, really, your not badly done by

when i was 15 (5 years ago now) i got paid about $6.41 per hour at a poolshop. now its been 5 years and this value should've increased.

I'll put it this way alt-f4. ALL entitlements which are due to you under a regular TAX-PAYING job, are out of our reach. He's not following the rules, and either paying you your tax, nor PAYG. You can't complain about anything, unless you want to declare all your earnings to the tax department, and that means you going through the rigamarole of getting a TFN, and if you start earning more in this financial year, and break over the tax free threshold, you'll be paying money back.

Personally, I wouldn't bitch about it, and just keep earning the $90 per week. at 15, that IS good money. I can't see you approaching the boss about the issue going down too well. There are plenty other 14-15 year olds who I am sure wouldn't mind earning about $100 per week. If you're disgruntled with your pay, you should re-assess your situation, and if you're really not happy where you are, it's a valid option to continue looking for other work while you're still working there.

Back when i was 18 i worked at a leb bread factory for 50 hours for one week and all i got paid was 100 bux. That equates to $2 an hour. I feel so violated.

i remember doing a paper run back when i was 13-15.......that was hard work and it equated to $4 an hour. now lil johnny give me a lil student allowance for doing nothing.....i'm happy.

Rubber chicken: I hear your pain, when I started at red rooster I was on $3.86 as well. The funny thing was that I thought it was a sweet deal because I used to get paid similiar rates working on a cane farm before I moved to brisbane and red rooster seemed cruisy compared to that.

Moo has nailed it on the head

Ill say it again for you and in caps this time because it has been ignored

YOU ARE GETTING PAID CASH IN HAND, THEREFORE YOU ARE NOT LISTED ON THE TAX BOOKS, SO HE CAN PAY YOU WHATEVER HE LIKES ... YOU DONT EARN $113/WEEK SO YOU DONT HAVE TO PAY TAX, BUT IF YOU WANT TO GET ALL YOUR s*** AND BITCH ABOUT ANOTHER 43C/HR THEN GET A TFN, AND TELL YOUR BOSS THAT, BUT SERIOUSLY QUIT WHINGING ABOUT IT, YOUR CASH IN HAND - YOU GET PAID WHAT HE WANTS TO PAY YOU, OTHERWISE QUIT!

end thread now

its been said numerous times - why hasnt this retard bothered to read it?

I remember 2 years ago when I was 19-20 I was getting paid $6 an hour.
1st year apprentice wages really do suck:(

Alt-f4, i've been paid in cash, tax free for years while i've been a student. It really is great. No paperwork, no tax crap.

You say the 43c is going to add up to $100 over time, well let me tell you that it doesn't really matter. I wouldn't worry. So long as you think that $6 is pretty good for just stackin a bit of fruit well thats okay.

Whats the name of the shop?

http://wageline.qld.gov.au/awardsacts/index.html
You should be getting about $7.30 from what I remember. I had this exact problem, being underpaid at my old job whilst I was 15/16 and put in a claim and got money off my former employers. They can get in lots of trouble by not paying tax, it's worth doing something about...

he's paying your tax for you dude !

He would probably be getting all his tax back anyway, he won't pass $6000 in the financial year

Chances are you fall under the QLD State Retail Award http://www.wageline.qld.gov.au/awardsacts/awardTree.jsp?_store=Awards&_id=R0165. However you are being paid cash and have not supplied a tax file number therefore the award means dick to you (or your boss) - unless he puts you on the books. I am under the QLD State Retail Award and work in a fish shop and get paid cash, but I pay tax etc - they just happen to pay with cash rather than EFT.

In a situation like yours you can be screwed very easily by your boss, you are already being under paid and even if you were on the books getting award you wouldn't be taxed as you are well under the threshold i.e. you getting shafted pure and simple. It may only be ~$0.40 an hour, but when you are only on $6 an hour it is a significant % increase.

I have worked for more than one dodgy c*** and my advice to you is to get a tax file number from the ATO and request a tax declaration form from them, fill it out and stick it under your boss nose and say you want to be paid legit - he is obviously paying cash and under award wage 'cos it works out for him, not you. There are no friends when it comes to money. The worst he will do is tell you to f*** off, then you walk out the door with your pride.

Just pimp yourself to all the usual places (fast food, supermarkets etc) and you will have better paying (legitimate) work in no time.

Also under the QLD Retail Award penalty rates apply for Sunday work and public holidays, even if you are casual.


last edited by rodolphe at 10:41:47 15/Feb/05

I am so nice I will even work out your wage based on the QLD Retail Award...

You are under 16 therefore you get 45% of the adult shop assistant rate. Adult rate is $526.40 per week for a full timer. Being casual, your hourly rate is the weekly rate divided by 38 plus 23% loading. Sooooo $526.40/38 = $13.8526. 45% of this is $6.23367. With your 23% casual loading it is $7.6674.

You are being screwed for $1.6674 per hour. IMO as a junior that is enough to whinge about.

If there are any pedantic types out there, I have not rounded the figures for the wage calculation properly, for a junior wage you are meant to calculate it to the nearest $0.10, meh.

Based on that hourly rate you would need to do over 15 hours a week to pay tax on it too, even if you did pay tax, it would only be on what you earned OVER the 15 hours a week, and in any case you would get it all back at the end of the financial year.

rodolphe wins this thread

$7.67 an hour for a 15 yr old? Farq me.

When i was 15 and working normal rate was $5.15

When I was 17 I got about $8 an hour. The casual loading was only 17% though, and of course minimum wages have gone up.

I am getting over $17 now as a casual while I got to uni, all i gotta do is stick fish in a bag and weigh it and give it to a customer lol... before that I was getting <$14 an hour as an apprentice sweating my arse off, getting filthy, putting up with loads of BS... What I get now as a casual shop assistant is more than what most of the tradies at my old work got and i dun have to be in a sweaty arse workshop (granted that the tradesmen at my old work get paid dick compared witjh other places though).

Also I may be wrong with what I worked out for old mate, but it is correct to my understanding of the award. The award is free online for him to check out or ask his folks to help him out. also I am only assuming he would be under that award, he may be governed by a different one.

Quit whinging, when I was your age I was getting paid $3.86 an hour for 2 years.
I'm at uni now & at 20 I get $18.16 an hour.
Life rocks so much more when you actually have money to spend.

last edited by Loki at 12:18:02 15/Feb/05

I am not paying tax as i dont even have a taxfile number. So he hasn't been taking tax out...

Unfortunatly what rodolphe said is correct, and you have no rights, or benifits because what he is doing, is paying you cash in hand illegaly. hell, he could fire you for no reason, and can because you havent signed a tax dec or dec of employment. Either approach him about it , or take it to the ATO, who actually do help. Regardless of age or what you do, you still have a right to recieve what you deserve.

I didn't create this thread to see if you think what im being paid is fair, i made the thread so i could see if the goverment though it was fair.

Thanks to those who posted some constructive comments (rodolphe and bean kthx).

To all those saying you got lower than me when you were my age, you can't compare because of the different rate of inlfation and also a buck back when you were young got you more than a buck today would.

I think i will just stick with this s***ass job until i can get one at Coles/Woolies/something else, and if i do, ask for a payrise, if they dont give it to me then leave for coles/wooolies.

The current part-time wage for Pizza hut is $5.88/hr for a 15 year old.

last edited by exo at 22:17:27 15/Feb/05

I think i will just stick with this s***ass job until i can get one at Coles/Woolies/something else

hahahhaha, you just reminded me of myself back in the day, back when I thought Coles was an upgrade. hahahaha

Altho I was getting $17.53 an hour at coles for a while.

PS: Free tip slick; Never work a job too long. If it sucks, bite up the motivation to leave and find something else. If I didnt get fired from Coles for my unkempt appearance I would still be there now, and that would be a f***ing tragedy.

Get a job before you leave though.

Its way easier to get a job with a job.

got bean> that's not entirely true. if they don't pay tax, but you don't declare your income to the taxation department, it's your own fault, so it's you who gets in trouble.

Just get another job, at 15 you're an employable piece of meat.

As long as you can spell your own name, communicate in more than a series of grunts and wear your pants the right way around you'll get a better job somewhere.

i was making $8.30/hr at a random chinese joint, they had a sheet printed there, from an aus govt site with all the prices required/recommend to pay certain ages, we paid ourserlves in cash also straight out the register
(that was at 15-16, had the same price for all under 17s printed on the sheet, so im guessing $8.3 aint 15's price)

at bilo now i make $9.06 + benefits (eg sundays + public holidays) and ive worked every public holiday since december 2004

To all those saying you got lower than me when you were my age, you can't compare because of the different rate of inlfation and also a buck back when you were young got you more than a buck today would.

Yeah?... no.
$3.86 an hour 5 years ago certainly doesn't add up to $6 an hour now.

The current part-time wage for Pizza hut is $5.88/hr for a 15 year old.

Most large fast food places have their own awards and the pay rates are s***, f***s me how they manage to get industrial relations to pass them, but they do. If I was to work at KFC for example I would be on ~14 per hour, in a small business without a fancy award I am getting $17 per hour. There lies half the reason you can get Mcf***ingFat for only $5 a hit and get a pizza for only $6, of course you get what you pay for though.

I dont know the exact date but the GST only came into effect ~5 years ago. So thats 10-15% already. Plus things have just generally gone up in price, particuarlly food..... 5 years ago Mcdonalds soft serves were 30c and now they are 50c.

Although Mcdonalds soft serves are not the ultimate indicate of currency's value... anyhow...

Your 3.86$ an hour would have got you 12.88- Soft serves, and my $6 hour only gets me 12.

^^ year 10 economics, lol

that extra .88 of a soft serve, will go a long way ....

Yes, but Hungry Jack's soft-serves are still 30c, so there goes your theory out the window.

That's only a promotion exo. So it will revert back to the Maccas price before too long.

last edited by Triamks at 22:53:31 16/Feb/05

Yes, but Hungry Jack's soft-serves are still 30c, so there goes your theory out the window.

Haha, sif anyone goes to Hungries.

Oh I don't go there, I just know the ads. The point still stands that Pizza Hut are legally employing people at $5.88/hr, and before December 15th last year it was $5.42/hr. $6.00/hr is above minimum wage and better than what some people are getting. I think that rodolphe won the thread way back when :P

Well seing as your having a whinge about your pay, i might aswell add my 2 cents



I used to work at pizza hut(up until 2 weeks ago when i stopped turning up) and they pay your on age and how long you have been there (which is illegal i think, paying you more if you been there longer) i have been there for 2 yrs and am 17 years old, up until december last year i was on 7.25 or some s***ty low wage.

I was 2 years older than you, had 1.7 years more experience and was getting payed $1.25 more than you... how does that work?

mcdonalds get payed more than pizza hut ppl.. as do kfc people. Pizza hut is the lowest paying fast food chain in aus i believe.

So all in all stfu your getting a good deal :D


and for the record, hungry's does suck the monkey pole =)

sc00bs: Only KFC Queensland. They get the same rates as Sizzler as they're owned by Collins Food. KFC interstate are on the same award as PH QLD. Also, it is entirely legal to be paid more the more you work. You get the heigher rate either as given by your age or your age when you started + yearly increments.

well if thats true, they start you off VERY low.. i started at $5.50 i think when i was 15 and at 17 i was only $7.25.. but now with the new award im up to $8.50 (the wage i should have been at when i started)

I started on $5.38/hr when I was 16 working at the Pizza Hut Callcentre. This went up to $6.88 when I turned 17. Then went up to $7.42 with the new award in December. Now I'm on $8.55 as an 18 year old. These are part-time wages duder so you get holiday pay and sick-leave. As a casual worker (which most of your mates will be), they get 25% on top of what you get because they don't get those benefits.

I'm not saying it's not a load of s***, I'm just explaining why it's REALLY low.

KFC QLD and Sizzler are NOT on the same pay. KFC QLD has lower wages than Sizzler. Sizzler Australasia and KFC Queensland are both owned by Collins Food Group, but this means nothing when it comes to wages.

Also fyi KFC QLD wages change depending on where in QLD you live/work, for example North QLD wages are higher (not by much).

My missus works for CFG, so yes, I am correct :p

I wouldn't get out of bed for $6/hr.

You really need to be more resourceful. I cut lawns for $20 a chop (~$14/hr) when I was 15.

God i'll pay you $10 an hour to come and help me around my yard on a saturday morning!!

b j p

Are HJs soft serves for 30c only a promotion?

They s*** all over the McD ice creams, you get something not runny and twice as big for 30c.

Are HJs soft serves for 30c only a promotion?

there not a promotion anymore. they where to start off was going to be for 2 months but now its being kept.