Two narrow sub-minimums: youth ($13) and training ($14.50).
Illinois allows two sub-minimum rates beyond the standard $15.00 floor: workers under 18 working fewer than 650 hours in a calendar year may earn $13.00/hr, and new workers 18+ may earn a training wage of $14.50/hr for the first 90 calendar days of employment. Both have hard limits — exceed the threshold and the worker is owed the full minimum wage retroactively.
Youth & Training Wage Gates
Tracks 650-hour threshold for youth workers and 90-day window for training-wage classification. Auto-uplifts to standard minimum when threshold is crossed.
What those rules do as thresholds approach.
The hero card configuration: Flag on countdown visibility, Critical on auto-uplift at threshold.
For each worker on the youth rate, Teambridge tracks accumulated hours toward the 650-hour calendar-year cap. For each worker on the training wage, the 90-day countdown shows from hire date. Both surface visibly in worker records.
When a youth worker hits 650 hours (or a training-wage worker hits day 90), Teambridge auto-uplifts to the full applicable minimum. The change is logged and surfaces to payroll as a rate adjustment.
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Sub-minimum is a privilege, not a default.
Both sub-minimum rates are narrow exceptions to the $15.00 floor with hard, automatic uplift triggers. Missing the trigger means owing back wages plus penalties under the IL Wage Payment Act.
Youth wage — 650-hour cap
Workers under 18 may be paid the youth rate ($13.00 in 2026) until they reach 650 hours of work in a calendar year — at which point the standard minimum applies for all subsequent hours. The 650 hours is per calendar year per worker, regardless of which employer (though enforcement happens per employer).
Training wage — 90-day window
Workers 18+ may be paid the training rate ($14.50 in 2026) for the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with a particular employer. After day 90, the standard minimum applies. The training wage does NOT apply to tipped workers — they go straight to $9.00 cash + tip credit.
Teambridge gates the uplift at the source.
The 650-hour cap and 90-day window are the kind of bright-line triggers that easy to miss with manual tracking. Teambridge tracks them per worker.
Youth or training tag at hire.
When a worker is hired under 18, the youth tag is applied; when hired 18+ on training wage, the training tag is applied. The tags drive sub-minimum eligibility and threshold tracking.
Real-time toward 650.
For youth workers, every hour worked accumulates toward the 650-hour calendar-year cap. The worker app and admin dashboard display the running total.
Training wage 90-day clock.
For training-wage workers, the 90 consecutive calendar days are tracked from hire date. Day 90 triggers an automatic uplift event.
Standard minimum applies forward.
When the 650-hour cap or 90-day window is crossed, the worker's pay rate auto-adjusts to the standard minimum for the applicable jurisdiction. Past hours stay at the sub-minimum; forward hours get the full rate.
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