Youth wage move 'devaluing'

Keeping Wairarapa workers on the youth wage for six months devalues young people in the workplace, a youth worker says.

"I think that if a youngster is making a decision to go out and work in the real world, then he's making a decision to leave education, he's making a decision to go out on his own to step up and live in the adult world," South Wairarapa youth mentor Paul Rodgers said.

Proposed changes to the youth wage were debated in Parliament last week.

The Minimum Wage (Starting-Out Wage) Amendment Bill, passed its third and final reading in Parliament on Thursday.

The legislative changes mean that from May 1 employers will be able to hire 16 and 17-year-olds on 80 per cent of the minimum wage for an extended period of six months instead of the previous maximum allotted time of 200 hours or three months.

Three groups will be eligible under the changes, unless they are training or supervising others: 16 and 17-year-olds during the first six months of work with a new employer, 18 and 19-year-olds who have been paid a benefit for six-months or longer and 16-to-19-year-olds who are taking a recognised training course.

The decision to extend the current reduced wage rate period for 16 and 17-year-olds to six months, has been slated by union representatives, opposition parties and the Human Rights Commission.

Mr Rodgers said many 16 and 17-year-olds were hard working.

"If they make a decision to get out of bed and go to work for 40 hours a week then I believe they should be getting the minimum wage.

"You're devaluing that person's work [by paying them the youth wage]."

First Union, which represents about 12,000 workers in the retail sector, called the bill "shameful".

"It's utterly appalling and is really yet another attack on workers," retail secretary Maxine Gay said.

Kmart, Countdown, Bunnings and Farmers were some of the major chains which operated without a youth wage rate, she said.

"They all operate completely and utterly successfully without youth rates."

Ms Gay said young people were "already extremely appealing" to many employers who paid proper wages to all their workers, regardless of age.

Proponents who argued the changes would reduce youth unemployment were wrong, she said.

About 41,500 Kiwis aged 15 to 19, who are registered as part of the labour force, were unemployed in the three months to December, Statistics New Zealand estimates showed.

Of these, 6400 were from the Greater Wellington region, which includes Wairarapa. Wairarapa-specific figures were unavailable.

The Human Rights Commission has also weighed in on the debate.

"In New Zealand, the age at which children and young people are deemed to be adult is considerably younger than 20 in many critical areas of life," the organisation's submission said.

Children were able to marry, with parental consent, and drive at 16. Only a year later, they could enlist in the military and be deployed at 18, it said.

"Yet they are not considered to be sufficiently adult enough to be protected by the minimum wage."

National, Act and United Future have so far supported the bill, saying it would increase the likelihood of young workers being taken on by employers. APNZ