How much did you make the first year you worked?

[disneychrista]

1987 (would have been 15) and I made $1,298.

 

[cinnaminny]

I started babysitting when I was probably way too young. I also worked for my parents. But my first real job, I was 14, I worked at Taco Bell and minimum wage then was 4.25. I probably worked 15 hours a week....so not much lol

 

[Adelle Dazeem]

I was a clerk in a Hallmark type gift store and made $3.35 an hour in either 85 or 86. I worked at the California State Fair in the summer and made $6 an hour, if I recall. I made enough to pay for a full Guess acid wash denim wardrobe for my senior year of high school...I was so cool! LOL I still have the jacket.

 

[Hrhpd]

Got my annual Social Security Statement in the mail and it lists what you have earned every year.

My first working year was 1974 and I made $186. I was 16-17 that year and worked as a Department Store Security Guard.
I just remember it sure seemed like a lot of money at the time. My first big purchase was a Realistic AM/FM tuner/amplifier for $35.

My first jobs were minimum wage, whatever that was in th 70's.

My kids did a few summer jobs at minimum wage or sightly over. They did not work during the school year as their school was their job. Their first real jobs straight out of college were: kid 1= $100,000+, kid 2 & 3 = $90,000+.

 

[Floridaman999]

My first job would have been on the family farm growing up. The pay was zero, but all living expenses were covered.

 

[Kitty 34]

I made $240 my summer out of HS being a counselor at a summer camp.

 

[Tinkerbell58]

My first full time job was a clerk-stenographer right out of high school in 1976 for county government. My annual salary was $4,995.

 

[neverlandsky]

First year, $12K on W2. Didn’t have to report tips at the time so made $12K cash for a total of $24K. The job was a carhop on roller skates. The next year they passed a law where you had to claim your tips as income and pay taxes. That first year though, I was able to cash flow my freshman year of college with that money. Those were the days.

 

[tvguy]

I worked for Six Flags in 1979 & 1980. Minimum wage in NJ was $1.65.

They owe you money then, The HAVE to pay at least Federal minimum age.

 

[RedAngie]

Federal minimum wage in 1980 was $3.10 an hour. Was this a tipped position? Or a cash under the table job?

I worked for Six Flags in 1979 & 1980. Minimum wage in NJ was $1.65.

I think certain positions like seasonal theme park workers under age 18 can be paid lower than the minimum wage, or they could back then.

 

[pooh2001]

Babysitting at $5 an hour back when
First real job after college - $18,000/year

 

[luvnwdwgal]

Federal minimum wage in 1980 was $3.10 an hour. Was this a tipped position? Or a cash under the table job?

Must not have been in Ohio. I worked in an office and my eventual husband worked maintenance for the same business and neither one of us made that much per hour.

 

[tvguy]

Must not have been in Ohio. I worked in an office and my eventual husband worked maintenance for the same business and neither one of us made that much per hour.

Well normally Federal minimum wage is less than most State's Minimum wage, but can anyone explain how someone can legally earn less than Federal minimum wage in a non-tipped job?

 

[RedAngie]

Well normally Federal minimum wage is less than most State's Minimum wage, but can anyone explain how someone can legally earn less than Federal minimum wage in a non-tipped job?

According to this, certain non-tipped employees can be paid less than minimum wage.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-the-minimum-wage-2060628
When Employee Can be Paid Less Than Minimum Wage
There are some employees that can be paid at rates below the hourly minimum wage. Those employees are permitted to be paid at a rate called a subminimum wage.

What Is Subminimum Wage?
What does subminimum wage mean? There are some employees who can be paid at hourly rates below the minimum wage according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Workers in certain categories of employment can legally be paid less than the federal minimum wage which is currently $7.25 an hour.

These subminimum wage employees include student-learners (vocational education students), and full-time students working in retail, service, agriculture, or higher education.

Employees who fall under this category also include those whose mental or physical disability (due to age, injury, etc.) that impairs their earning or productive ability.

Employment at less than the minimum wage helps to preserve the jobs for workers in these categories. Subminimum wage employment is allowed only under certificates issued by the Wage and Hour Division.

Other Classes of Workers Exempt from the Minimum Wage

1. Babysitters on a casual basis
2. Companions for the elderly
3. Federal criminal investigators
4. Fishing workers
5. Homeworkers making wreaths
6. Newspaper delivery workers
7. Newspaper employees of limited circulation newspapers
8. Seamen on foreign vessels
9. Switchboard operators
10. Farm workers employed on small farms
11. Employees of certain seasonal amusement and recreational establishments

Homeworkers making wreaths??????????

I'm guessing state minimum wage rules apply to some of the exempt positions, such as full time students working retail.

 

[LongLiveRafiki]

Well normally Federal minimum wage is less than most State's Minimum wage, but can anyone explain how someone can legally earn less than Federal minimum wage in a non-tipped job?

I'm not sure what the law used to be, but under federal law, currently employers can pay anyone under the age of 20 as low as $4.25/hr for 90 calendar days from their first day of work, as long as that employer's state laws allow it.

Also under federal law, employers can apply for a certificate from the Dept of Labor Wage and Hour Division to pay certain employees a subminimum wage in certain circumstances. Generally this applies to individuals with specific disabilities that hinder their productivity for that particular job. An employee simply having a disability would not be a reason an employer could get this certificate; the disability would have to directly impair an employee's earning or productive capacity for the job they have been hired to do.

 

[cinnaminny]

According to this, certain non-tipped employees can be paid less than minimum wage.

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-the-minimum-wage-2060628
When Employee Can be Paid Less Than Minimum Wage
There are some employees that can be paid at rates below the hourly minimum wage. Those employees are permitted to be paid at a rate called a subminimum wage.

What Is Subminimum Wage?
What does subminimum wage mean? There are some employees who can be paid at hourly rates below the minimum wage according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Workers in certain categories of employment can legally be paid less than the federal minimum wage which is currently $7.25 an hour.

These subminimum wage employees include student-learners (vocational education students), and full-time students working in retail, service, agriculture, or higher education.

Employees who fall under this category also include those whose mental or physical disability (due to age, injury, etc.) that impairs their earning or productive ability.

Employment at less than the minimum wage helps to preserve the jobs for workers in these categories. Subminimum wage employment is allowed only under certificates issued by the Wage and Hour Division.

Other Classes of Workers Exempt from the Minimum Wage

1. Babysitters on a casual basis
2. Companions for the elderly
3. Federal criminal investigators
4. Fishing workers
5. Homeworkers making wreaths
6. Newspaper delivery workers
7. Newspaper employees of limited circulation newspapers
8. Seamen on foreign vessels
9. Switchboard operators
10. Farm workers employed on small farms
11. Employees of certain seasonal amusement and recreational establishments

Homeworkers making wreaths??????????

I'm guessing state minimum wage rules apply to some of the exempt positions, such as full time students working retail.

Homeworkers making wreaths? That seems really specific lol What do they have against these people?? lol

 

[ronandannette]

My first job would have been on the family farm growing up. The pay was zero, but all living expenses were covered.

Mine too I guess, but as a spoiled Daddy's girl, I hardly had any chores and my allowance was way more lucrative than any minimum wage part-time job would have been. Remind me again why I was in such a rush to grow up and get out of there? Adulting is hard.

My first real, full-time job was a salaried position with annual pay of $15,000. The year was 1988.

 

[DebbieB]

I started in 1977 at $117 per week, clerical position right out of high school. I thought it was great because minimum wage was $2.30 and I was making $3.12 (37.5 hour week).

 

[SC Minnie]

I worked at a movie theater in 1984 making $2.85/hr. It was a 'student wage'. Minimum wage was around $3.25 I think. It was fine. Between movie start times at night during the week it was slow so I could study or do homework.

 

[bdcp]

Very first job was teaching gymnastics part time at a rec center (when I wasn't babysitting for a whopping $1-2/hr). According to my ss statement, I made $104 that year and I was 16 in 1976. I made a lot more babysitting. I was a Federal part time employee during most of college, mostly part time and not all counted towards SS due to Civil Service Retirement, so between 1978-1982, my ss doesn't show all my income. My first real full time job in 1982, I made $11,000. I now make a whole lot more than that and never did finish college.