Training wage: $9.31 for under-20s, first 90 days only.
Minnesota retains a 90-day training wage subminimum of $9.31/hr (2026) for workers under age 20 during their first 90 consecutive days of employment. The training wage is narrower than most state subminima: it requires the worker to be under 20, the employment to be in the first 90 consecutive days (no resets), and the employer must compensate at the standard rate after day 91 OR the worker's 20th birthday — whichever comes first. The training wage does NOT apply in Minneapolis or St. Paul where city ordinances have no training subminimum.
90-Day Training Wage Configuration
Routes under-20 workers to $9.31 training rate during first 90 consecutive days. Auto-uplifts on day 91 or 20th birthday — whichever comes first. Disabled inside Minneapolis and St. Paul boundaries.
What those rules do at hire and on the 90-day anniversary.
The hero card configuration: Flag on uplift, Block on city ordinance, Avoid on displacement.
On the 91st consecutive day of employment OR the worker's 20th birthday — whichever comes first — the training wage ends and the standard $11.41 rate applies. Teambridge auto-uplifts on the trigger date.
The training wage is a state-level subminimum. Minneapolis ($16.37 for all employer sizes, no carve-outs) and St. Paul (tier-based rates) do not allow a training wage subminimum. Attempts to apply training wage for shifts inside city boundaries are blocked.
The federal FLSA prohibits using subminimum-wage workers to displace existing workers (29 CFR 519.4). Hiring under-20 workers at training wage to replace standard-rate workers triggers federal displacement violation. Pattern detection flags this for review.
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Narrow subminimum: under 20, first 90 days, state coverage only.
The training wage is a holdover federal-floor concept that some states have eliminated entirely. Minnesota retains it but limits it tightly.
Narrow eligibility
The training wage applies only when both conditions are met: (1) the worker is under age 20, AND (2) the worker is in the first 90 consecutive days of employment with that specific employer. Both conditions are necessary. A 19-year-old in their fourth month at the same employer earns standard rate. A 20-year-old in their first month earns standard rate (regardless of how recently they turned 20).
90 consecutive days, no resets
The 90 days are consecutive calendar days from the worker's first day of employment with that employer — not 90 days of work. Weekends, holidays, and unpaid leave count toward the 90. Termination and rehire by the same employer does not reset the clock — the second 90-day period uses the cumulative count from the original hire date. A worker in their 91st consecutive day earns the standard rate even if they've only worked a handful of shifts.
Teambridge auto-tracks the 90-day clock and the 20th-birthday trigger.
The dual-trigger rule (90 days OR 20th birthday) plus the city preemption mean training wage is operationally narrow.
Age + first-90-days status validated.
When a new worker is hired, age is validated (must be under 20) and tenure is initialized at day 1. Both conditions logged.
90-day clock triggers rate change.
On the 91st consecutive day from hire date, the worker's rate auto-uplifts to standard $11.41 (or applicable city rate). Surfaces in payroll preview the day before.
Birthday triggers immediate uplift.
If the worker turns 20 before day 91, the training wage ends on the birthday. The 20th birthday is captured at hire and the trigger is set automatically.
Mpls/StP shifts default to city rate.
Shifts inside Minneapolis or St. Paul boundaries default to the city rate regardless of training wage eligibility. Training wage is state-only.
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