Manage under 18 compliance, junior pay rates, tax and superannuation
Handling junior employees in foundU requires the right setup to meet Australian employment rules for employees under 18 and those under 21 on junior pay rates.
Age affects tax, superannuation, awards, and rostering restrictions, so it’s important to understand why these differences exist. These variations are based on legislation and entitlements that change depending on an employee’s age, which means tax or superannuation may appear differently on payslips for junior employees compared to adults.
This article highlights what to look out for when working with junior employees in foundU, helping you stay compliant and avoid common issues.
In this article, we will cover:
- Junior employee tax details, including when tax applies
- Superannuation rules for employees under 18
- Setting up awards and positions for junior employees
- Rostering tips for managing age restrictions
- Using communications for upcoming birthdays and rate changes
- Reporting on birthdays to track age-based position changes
It’s also worth noting that changes to junior pay rates for employees aged 18–20 under certain awards are expected in December 2026. For more details on current junior classification rules, refer to the Fair Work article here.
There are different requirements for employees under 18 regarding tax and superannuation, so it’s important to understand how and when these apply. These obligations can also change once an employee turns 18, so you’ll need to be ready to review their details and make any required updates.
Review each tab below, and we’ll walk through how superannuation and tax work for junior employees, and what to check.
Under 18
During onboarding, employees are required to provide their super fund details; this is the same process as for adult employees. They can choose from:
- An SMSF
- Your default fund
- Their own nominated fund
Superannuation details must be provided (or a default fund selected) to complete onboarding.
For under 18 employees, Superannuation Guarantee (SG) only applies when they work more than 30 hours in a week. Once this threshold is met, SG is applied to all Qualifying Earnings (QE) within that period.
This is particularly important when running payroll, as junior employees may exceed 30 hours during school holidays or public holiday periods.
Hot tip: If your business chooses to pay super for under 18s on all Qualifying Earnings (QE), rather than only when they exceed 30 hours, this can be enabled in your Superannuation settings, so it applies automatically.
Turning 18
Once an employee turns 18, the 30-hour threshold is removed. Superannuation Guarantee will apply to all QE from the pay period in which they turn 18.
This change is automatically handled in foundU and will be reflected on their draft payslip.
What do you need to do?
- Review superannuation details to ensure they are correct
- Follow up with the employee if details are missing or incorrect
- Communicate with your junior employees when superannuation has been applied to their payslip
- Refer to the ATO website for further information on super obligations and thresholds for junior employees
Under 18
When completing their TFN declaration, junior employees may have the option to select “I am claiming an exemption because I am under 18 years of age and do not earn enough to pay tax” (commonly referred to as a “333 333 333 exemption”). This applies a temporary tax exemption and is only available while the employee is under 18.
This exemption is based on the employee’s declared expected income. If their circumstances change, the exemption will no longer apply. This can occur when:
- The employee exceeds the income threshold
- The employee turns 18
If the exemption is no longer valid and the employee has not provided their TFN, they will be taxed at the highest marginal rate until their TFN is submitted.
Turning 18
When an employee turns 18, standard tax rules apply immediately.
If they previously had a 333 333 333 exemption, they will be prompted to update their details, as the exemption is no longer valid once they turn 18. They will need to either provide their TFN or update their tax declaration accordingly.
Please note: Admins cannot edit an employee’s tax declaration details from their profile, as this is a personal declaration. The employee must update, sign, and submit the declaration themselves for any changes to apply.
What do you need to do?
- Check the employee’s TFN declaration
- Review exemptions and ensure employees are aware that their details must be updated when no longer eligible
- Refer to the ATO website for further information on tax rates and obligations for junior employees
When setting up your award and assigning positions, it’s important to keep junior employees in mind. Not only do junior employees often receive different pay rates, but they may also face additional restrictions on when and how they can work, based on their age and applicable legislation.
In this section, we’ll look at key considerations for junior employees:
When setting up awards
Assigning positions to an employee profile
Building rosters.
Explore each option from the tabs below.
When reviewing your specific award, it’s important to check for any rules or conditions that apply specifically to junior employees or those under 18. This ensures that when you create positions in foundU, you can set up pay rules that correctly reflect these requirements.
As award conditions vary, always refer to your specific award on the Fair Work website for the most up-to-date information. You can view it here.
Key rules to check:
- Junior pay rates
- Maximum and minimum hours per day
- Maximum hours per week
- Span of hours within a day
- Break and rest requirements
- Permitted working hours (e.g. not working after a set time)
Once you have reviewed your award or agreement and confirmed the rules that apply to junior employees, you can apply these within your position setup in foundU.
Positions are created per classification (base pay rate), which means you will have separate positions for different age-based classifications (e.g. one position for 16-year-olds and another for 17-year-olds). This allows each position to have its own set of pay rules, so if requirements differ between age groups, they can be configured independently within each position.
Once a position is assigned to an employee, any rules applied to that position will automatically flow through to that employee when shifts are worked.
For instructions on creating or editing positions in foundU, please refer to our guide here.
The most common way to set up positions is per classification, which means you’ll have separate positions for each age-based rate (e.g. one position for 16-year-olds and another for 17-year-olds). This makes it easy to keep things accurate as employees get older; you just update their position on their profile when they move to the next age (e.g., from 16 to 17).
When you do this, any different pay rules and rates linked to the new position will automatically apply.
You can also future-date positions so they kick in automatically on an employee’s birthday, or from the start of a pay period (for permanent employees).
With this in mind, there are 2 common ways to stay on top of junior positions:
- Add all junior positions during onboarding so they’re ready to go as employees age
- Regularly run a report to check employee ages against their current positions (see the Key reporting methods for juniors section below), then update as needed
As shown in the image below, Abby is currently 17 years old. Her current position (blue) ends the day before her birthday, and a future-dated position (white) will automatically start on her 18th birthday.
For instructions on how to add and future-date employee positions, refer to our guide Add a new position to an employee.
When rostering junior employees, there are usually 2 key questions that come up:
How do I know if an employee is approaching or exceeding their allowed hours?
How do I quickly identify which employees are juniors or younger workers?
Below are a few simple features that can help you with both:
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Set maximum hours on the employee profile
- You can set maximum hours on an employee’s profile, which will alert your rostering managers when their shifts exceed the weekly maximum.
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This helps keep rostering aligned with junior working hour rules.
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Filter employees by age
- When adding employees to a roster, you can filter by age so your youngest employees are easy to identify.
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You’ll also see an icon next to each employee indicating their age at a glance.
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Filter by position
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Since junior employees often sit in separate positions, you can filter your roster by position to only show junior-specific roles and employees.
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Please note: This option is not available if your roster uses position groups, as multiple positions (including junior and adult roles) may be grouped together for rostering purposes.
foundU includes birthday-based communications that can help you keep on top of junior employees as they age. These are particularly useful when an employee turns 18, as this is often the trigger to review their tax, super, and profile details to ensure everything is set up correctly.
They reduce the need to rely solely on manual checks and act as a helpful reminder for both employees and admins to review and update details at the right time.
These communications are:
- Employee Eighteen Birthday TFN Reminder
- Employee Birthday Reminder
- Employee Birthday Message
In this section, we’ll suggest ways you can customise these messages to suit your setup and processes. For step-by-step instructions on updating communications and templates in foundU, refer to our guide here.
- Employee Eighteen Birthday TFN Reminder
| ID | Recipient | Default content |
|---|---|---|
| 138 | Employee | Message sent to employees turning 18, reminding them to update their TFN. |
This communication is especially useful for employees under 18 who have not provided their TFN or claimed a tax exemption, as turning 18 may change their tax obligations. It prompts them to review and update their details if needed.
This communication is sent to employees who:
- Have an upcoming birthday within the next 2 weeks (with a DOB recorded)
- Have not yet provided a TFN (including those still onboarding)
- Have declared a TFN exemption
To make this communication more effective, consider including:
- A reminder to review or update their superannuation details
- A prompt to check or update their bank details
- Employee Birthday Reminder
| ID | Recipient | Default content |
|---|---|---|
| 122 | Dynamic | Message sent when any employee has an upcoming birthday. |
By default, this communication is sent to an employee’s manager to notify them of any upcoming birthdays for employees assigned to them. You can set how many days before the birthday the reminder is triggered.
As this is a dynamic communication, you can also add additional admin users and include a custom message for specific recipients if needed.
To make this communication more effective, consider including:
- A reminder to check and update employee positions (especially for age-based changes)
- A prompt to review employee TFN details
- A reminder to review superannuation details
- Any updates required for company benefits or entitlements
- Any performance or HR reviews that may be due or required
- Employee Birthday Message
| ID | Recipient | Default content |
|---|---|---|
| 150 | Employee | Happy Birthday message sent to all employees. |
This is a happy birthday message that can be sent to employees on their birthday. This communication is turned off by default.
If you choose to use it, it can be helpful to include additional text and links, especially if your business offers benefits, rewards, or entitlements that apply on an employee’s birthday or when they move into a new age bracket.
To make this communication more effective, consider including:
- Links to Fair Work resources outlining any relevant award or junior classification changes
- Links to HR resources for employees turning 18+ policies or benefits
- A reminder of any rewards, perks, or benefits that are triggered on their birthday
Alternatively, you can create your own custom email or SMS template to send to your junior employees. However, with this method, communications can be sent in bulk using filters from the Approved or Pending People menus. You can learn more about this in our guide here.
Keeping track of employee ages is key when working with junior employees, as changes in age can impact pay rates, tax, super, and position requirements. Having visibility over upcoming birthdays and current ages makes it easier to stay on top of these changes and update employee profiles in time.
foundU includes a few simple tools to help you do this:
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Straight from your dashboard, there are 2 cards that communicate employee birthdays to you, these are:
Birthdays happening soon - For birthdays happening within the next 7 days.
Birthdays happening today - For birthdays happening today.
Once selected, these will navigate you to a filtered list in Approved People of employees meeting the above criteria.
Please note: This card displays all employees, not just your juniors.
From here, you can quickly open employee profiles and make any required updates, such as position changes.
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From the Approved People menu, you have a couple of options depending on what you need:
- Create filtered lists of employees (e.g. to quickly view your junior workforce)
- Export employee data for more detailed or custom reporting
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Filtering employees to view your juniors
- Creating a filtered list of junior employees gives you a quick, real-time view of who may need attention.
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Filters you can use:
- Age – Under 18
- TFN Status – Exempt from TFN (useful to check 333 333 333 TFN status)
- Additional filters – Birthdays happening soon, Birthdays (happening today)
- Creating a filtered list of junior employees gives you a quick, real-time view of who may need attention.
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Exporting employee data
In addition to filtering your employees, you can also export employee data to create a custom CSV, giving you a full view of employee ages, DOBs, and positions for review.
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Recommended export fields:
- Full Name
- Age
- Position
- Additional Position (if permanent)
- Birth month
- Date of Birth
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Once exported, you can compare employee age and DOB against their assigned positions to ensure they align with the correct age-based pay rates and requirements.
As shown in the image above, the report has been run for April. From this, you can see that Callum is 17 years old but is still assigned a 16-year-old position, and Kelvin has an upcoming birthday in May.
This allows the report to act as a prompt for admins to review and update employee profiles, ensuring the correct positions and 17-year-old pay rates are applied where needed.