Rostering junior employees
Young employees bring two sets of rules into a roster: the award, which can set junior rates and conditions, and the state or territory law on employing children, which can limit ages, hours and school-day work.
General information only, not legal advice. Rules differ between awards, agreements, contracts and states, and what applies depends on the employee. Check the official source, and ask a workplace relations professional when it matters.
The short answer
Many awards set junior pay rates by age, and some set conditions for junior employees.
Separately, each state and territory has its own law on employing children. Depending on where you are, it can set a minimum age, limit the hours and times of work, restrict work during school hours, require breaks, or require a permit. The rules differ a great deal between states.
| Check | Where |
|---|---|
| Junior pay rates | The award’s junior rates, by age |
| Minimum age for the job | State or territory child employment law |
| Hours on a school day, and in holidays | State or territory child employment law |
| Late finishes | Child employment law, and the award |
| Permits or parental consent | State or territory child employment law |
Official sources
Check the rule against these, in their current versions, before relying on it.
| Source | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award | Junior rates in the award that applies |
Worked examples
General examples of where to look. They are not advice about any particular employee.
| Situation | What to check |
|---|---|
| A 14 year old is rostered after school until 21:00 on a Thursday | The state or territory limits on school-day hours and late finishes |
| A 17 year old turns 18 halfway through a pay period | When the award’s adult rate starts to apply |
| A school holiday roster gives a 15 year old full weeks | Holiday hour limits under the state or territory law |
Employer checklist
- Keep each junior employee’s date of birth on their record
- Check the state or territory law before employing anybody of an age it covers
- Keep school-day shifts inside the hours the law allows
- Apply junior rates only as the award sets them
- Check again as each person has a birthday
What Roster Flow records, and what it does not decide
- A date of birth on each person’s profile
- Availability each person keeps by the hour
- The published roster, and every change to it with who made it and when
- Whether anybody can be employed at their age, or for those hours
- What anybody is paid, including penalty rates, loadings and overtime
Review log
13 September 2026: written by Roster Flow from the structure of the National Employment Standards and modern awards.
18 September 2026: every statement on this page checked against the official sources it names, by Roster Flow. It is general information, not advice from a workplace relations professional.
What that check covers, and what to confirm for your own situation:
- The main features of each state and territory’s child employment law
- Links to each of those laws and their regulators
- How junior rates change on a birthday under the common awards
- That every source link opens the current version of the source
Questions
What do the rules say about junior employees?
Many awards set junior pay rates by age, and some set conditions for junior employees.
Is there more to junior employees than that?
Separately, each state and territory has its own law on employing children. Depending on where you are, it can set a minimum age, limit the hours and times of work, restrict work during school hours, require breaks, or require a permit. The rules differ a great deal between states.
Does Roster Flow decide junior employees for me?
No. It does not interpret an award and it does not work out what anybody is paid. Whether anybody can be employed at their age, or for those hours stays with the business and its own advisers, and this page is general information rather than advice about your situation.
Where do the rules on junior employees come from?
Fair Work Ombudsman: find my award, covering junior rates in the award that applies. Read them in their current versions before you rely on anything here, because they change.