The Minimum Wage (New Entrants) Amendment Act 2007 comes into effect on 1 April 2008 and amends the Minimum Wage Act 1983. The amendments allow a minimum wage rate to be set for workers who are new entrants.

New entrants are workers who are 16 or 17 years of age except workers:

• who have completed 3 months or 200 hours of employment, whichever is the shorter, or
• who are supervising or training other workers, or
• who are required under their employment agreements to undergo training for the purpose of becoming qualified for their occupation (i.e, are subject to the minimum training rate).

When a minimum wage rate has been set for new entrants, reference to an employee's job description, employment agreement, and actual work are valid ways of determining whether the employee is supervising or training another employee.

There is no legal definition of "supervising or training". Who is considered to be a worker supervising or training other workers will depend on the facts of each individual situation.

In general, if an employee is 16 years of age or older and is overseeing the performance of another employee, or instructing another employee in the performance of their job it is likely he or she will fall within the category of supervising or training other workers. It is not necessary for an employee to have direct line management responsibility for other employees in order to qualify as an employee who is supervising or training other workers.

To fall within this category, the role of supervising or training would need to be a core part of that person's job, not a one-off event.

If an employee and an employer are unclear or disagree about whether the employee is a new entrant, the normal processes and mechanisms for resolving an employment dispute are available.