Washington 14-15 year-old workers: $14.56/hr (85% of minimum).
Washington workers 14 to 15 years old earn 85% of the state minimum wage = $14.56/hr in 2026. Workers 16 and older get the full state minimum ($17.13). Cities follow this pattern — 14-15 year-olds in Seattle, Tukwila, etc. earn 85% of the applicable city minimum, while 16-year-olds and older get the full city rate. There's no general training wage for adults above 14-15. Federal student-learner certificates are available but rare. Workers under 18 also face child labor hour restrictions (see minor-hour-limits).
Youth Wage Configuration
Applies 85% rate to workers 14-15. Auto-uplifts on 16th birthday. Surfaces the 85% calculation per applicable jurisdiction (Seattle, Tukwila, etc.).
What those rules do for young workers.
The hero card configuration: Flag on rate calculation, Critical on the 16th-birthday transition.
For 14-15 year-old workers, Teambridge surfaces the rate calculation: applicable jurisdiction minimum × 85%. Operators see why a SeaTac hospitality 14-year-old earns $17.63 (= $20.74 × 85%) while a Seattle 14-year-old earns $18.10 (= $21.30 × 85%).
In the days leading up to a 14-15 year-old worker's 16th birthday, Teambridge surfaces a Critical indicator. On the birthday, the worker auto-uplifts to the full applicable minimum wage. Effective from the first shift of the birthday.
Deploy youth wage rules in your Teambridge.
Tell us about your young workforce. We'll spin up 85%-of-applicable-minimum logic and 27 other Washington policies in a sandbox tenant.
RCW 49.46.020(2) — 85% rate for 14-15 only.
Washington's youth wage is narrow by design — only 14-15 year-olds, only at 85% of the applicable minimum. There's no general training or first-job wage for adults.
85% of applicable minimum
The 85% is calculated against the applicable minimum wage — state, Seattle, Tukwila, Renton, Burien, Bellingham, Everett, or SeaTac (industry-applicable). So a 14-year-old Seattle worker earns 85% × $21.30 = $18.10/hr; a 14-year-old in non-Seattle Washington earns 85% × $17.13 = $14.56.
Strict age boundaries
The 85% rate applies only to workers 14-15. Workers under 14 generally cannot be employed in non-agricultural work in Washington (rare exceptions for child performers and family businesses). Workers 16 and older get the full applicable minimum wage.
Teambridge applies 85% per jurisdiction and auto-uplifts on 16th birthday.
The 14-15 worker configuration is straightforward but the 16th birthday transition is operationally important — missing it creates back-wages exposure.
Birthday captured.
When a worker is hired under 16, Teambridge captures the date of birth and applies 85% of the applicable jurisdiction minimum.
85% × applicable rate.
The 85% is calculated against whichever city/county/state minimum applies based on physical work location. Seattle 14-15 = $18.10. Bellingham 14-15 = $16.26.
Full minimum applies.
On the worker's 16th birthday, Teambridge auto-uplifts to the full applicable minimum wage. The transition runs without operator intervention; the audit log captures the date and rate change.
Sub-minimum requires certificate.
If the rare federal student-learner sub-minimum applies, the certificate must be on file. Without it, save fails.
Still evaluating? Get a free Washington compliance audit.
Send us your existing Washington scheduling and pay configuration. Our compliance team returns a written audit within 5 business days — every Washington-specific exposure ranked by risk and back-pay liability.