48-1203.01.

Training wage rate; adjustments; limitations.

(1) An employer may pay a new employee who is at least sixteen years of age but younger than twenty years of age and who is not a seasonal or migrant worker or an emancipated minor a training wage rate as described in subsection (2) of this section for ninety days from the date the new employee was hired. An employer may pay such new employee the training wage rate for an additional ninety-day period while the new employee is participating in on-the-job training which (a) requires technical, personal, or other skills which are necessary for his or her employment and (b) is approved by the Commissioner of Labor. No more than one-fourth of the total hours paid by the employer shall be at the training wage rate.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the training wage rate shall be:

(a) Thirteen dollars and fifty cents per hour through December 31, 2026; and

(b) Beginning on January 1, 2027, and on January 1 of each year thereafter, the training wage rate shall increase by one and one-half percent, rounded to the nearest cent.

(3) An employer shall not pay the training wage rate if the hours of any other employee are reduced or if any other employee is laid off and the hours or position to be filled by the new employee is substantially similar to the hours or position of such other employee. An employer shall not dismiss or reduce the hours of any employee with the intention of replacing such employee or his or her hours with a new employee receiving the training wage rate.