Young retail workers may get pay boost Thousands of young workers across the country could be in for a pay rise if proposed changes go ahead. Valley girl employee Micaela Muench, 16, at work. Thousands of younger retail workers across the country could be paid almost $2 an hour extra if the Fair Work Commission finds in their favour this week. The hearing, which has the backing of the federal government, will from Tuesday look into altering the General Retail Award to ensure 20-year-old retail workers are paid the full adult wage. The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) says this is the first step towards achieving 100 per cent pay for some 41,000 18- to 20-year-old workers. Currently, junior rates are set in line with age, so 18-year-olds are typically paid 70 per cent of the adult rate, at 19 they get 80 per cent, and at 20 they're paid 90 per cent. Employers say junior rates give young people opportunities, but by the time a retail worker has reached 18 they've usually been in the industry for several years and have been delivering 100 per cent value to their employer, the SDA says. "Some retailers have been getting away with paying adults less than the full adult rate for too long," said SDA National Secretary Joe de Bruyn in a statement. He said excuses from some retailers in submissions to the Fair Work Commission for not paying younger workers fairly are "disgraceful." "It has been suggested that 18- to 20-year-olds should be paid significantly less than their colleagues because they are unreliable, inexperienced and don't deliver the same value to the workplace - we know that's simply untrue," Mr de Bruyn said. He said there are a number of enterprise agreements that do pay adult rates at 20, which is a first step towards adult rates paid at 18. Mr de Bruyn said he was hopeful the General Retail Award will be modified to reflect what's already happening in the industry. "Contrary to what some in the retail industry are saying, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that paying younger workers fairly will have any negative impact on employment at all, nor will it result in businesses closing down," he said. It's scaremongering at its finest.