SUB-MINIMUM WAGE RATES ARE IN BREACH OF EMPLOYMENT EQUALITY LEGISLATION ON AGE DISCRIMINATION GROUNDS
Tuesday 28 April 2026Mandate Trade Union’s Greg Caffrey has today said that the sub-minimum wage rates for workers under 20 are in breach of Ireland’s employment equality legislation on age discrimination grounds. Mr Caffrey was speaking at the unions biennial delegate conference in the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise.
“Our employment equality legislation unambiguously prohibits discrimination against a worker on the grounds of age. The current treatment of young people under the age of 20 – forced to work for subminimum wage rates – is a clear denial of this protective measure. Furthermore, the existence of subminimum rates indirectly discriminates against older workers, as their chance to compete for jobs in certain sectors is severely diminished when it is permissible to employ younger workers in preference to them at a lower rate of pay.
“Another important provision within existing equality legislation is the concept of ‘work of equal value’. Mandate believes that subminimum wage rates further exacerbate the discrimination that young people must face by denying them the chance to assert this crucial entitlement and defend their rights.”
Greg Caffrey said that the main reason put forward by Government and employers’ groups for keeping the subminimum wage rates is that removing them would prevent young people from entering the workforce and gaining valuable experience.
“This argument really has no basis – requiring young people to be paid in this way for employment opportunities is simply exploitative. Another argument put forward is that young employees shouldn’t be paid more due to their inexperience in comparison to their more seasoned coworkers. Linking pay rates to an employment experience component contradicts and seriously undermines the decision made in 2019 to remove the training rate from the minimum wage pay structure, and therefore, such a proposition should be dismissed as a retrograde step.”
Mr Caffrey pointed out that the majority of EU countries with legal minimum wages do not implement age-based lower rates and despite a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission in 2024 to abolish subminimum wage rates, the government has regrettably decided to postpone such a decision until 2029.
“Mandate Trade Union continues to strongly oppose this Government’s decision, but to help lessen its negative effect on young workers, we propose that the Low Pay Commission look to phase out sub-minimum wage rates by 2029. Such a move would reflect the ambition to incrementally align the current full minimum wage rate with the living wage by 2029.
“This type of phased approach would allow employers to absorb additional costs in a more orderly way. In this regard, it is important to consider the extensive ongoing aid already provided by the state to employers most affected by increased costs—especially the proposed significant VAT reduction starting in July 2026, which will benefit the hospitality sector, one of the two largest employers of subminimum wage workers. Relative to the total package on offer, the cost of phasing out subminimum wage rates by 2029 would be minimal,” Greg Caffrey concluded.
