Junior rates start disappearing on 1 December

Retail, fast food and pharmacy employers have six weeks before the first step of a wage increase that runs to 2029, and payroll triggers on service rather than birthdays.

The Fair Work Commission decided on 31 March 2026, in a Full Bench decision, that junior rates should no longer apply to employees aged 18, 19 and 20 who have been with the same employer for more than six months. It covers three awards: the General Retail Industry Award, the Fast Food Industry Award and the Pharmacy Industry Award. A further decision in August set the implementation timetable.

The first step lands in the first full pay period on or after 1 December 2026. An 18-year-old with more than six months' service moves from 70 per cent of the adult rate for their classification to 75 per cent. A 19-year-old moves from 80 to 85 per cent. Under the Fast Food Award, a 20-year-old moves from 90 to 95 per cent and reaches the full adult rate from 1 July 2027. The increases then continue in five percentage point steps each July and December until 18-year-olds reach 100 per cent on 1 July 2029.

Two details catch employers out. Under the General Retail Award, 20-year-olds with more than six months' service already receive the full adult rate, so in retail only 18 and 19-year-olds move, and only at Retail Employee Levels 1 to 3. Under the Pharmacy Award the change applies to pharmacy assistants at Levels 1 and 2. Nothing changes for employees under 18, and nothing changes for 18 to 20-year-olds with six months' service or less.

The Commission heard from 87 witnesses, 82 of them giving first-hand evidence of working in the three sectors, before concluding that once an employee reaches adulthood, service and experience should carry more weight than age alone in setting minimum pay. The application came from the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, which estimates around half a million workers are affected over the four years. The Commission found the work being done was the same work.

Hospitality sits outside it. The Hospitality and Restaurant Awards were not part of the case, and one hospitality rule already pays some 18-year-olds the full adult rate. An operator running a cafe and a fast food outlet will therefore be applying two different junior structures from December.

The administrative trap is the trigger. These increases are driven by length of service, not by a birthday, which is not how most small payroll systems think about junior rates. An employee who passes six months in February moves then, and nothing in the roster will remind anyone.

Pull a list this week of every employee aged 18 to 20 with their start date and classification level, and work out who crosses six months before 1 December. That list is the whole job, and it is also the list your payroll software probably cannot generate on its own. Ask your provider in writing whether it handles a service-based junior trigger, because if the answer is no you are doing this manually every six months until 2029 and underpayment claims accrue per employee per pay period. Resist the temptation to cut hours for 18 and 19-year-olds, which invites an adverse action claim and solves nothing, since the schedule is published to 2029 and the cost is forecastable. Build it into next year's pricing now while you still have six weeks to do it calmly.