Except where a higher minimum wage is required by Washington state or federal law:

(1) Every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who have reached their sixteenth or seventeenth year of age a rate of pay per hour which is equal to the hourly rate required by RCW 49.46.020 for employees eighteen years of age or older, whether computed on an hourly, commission, piecework, or other basis, except as may be otherwise provided under this chapter.

(2) Every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who have not reached their sixteenth year of age a rate of pay per hour that is not less than eighty-five percent of the hourly rate required by RCW 49.46.020 for employees eighteen years of age or older whether computed on an hourly, commission, piecework, or other basis, except as may be otherwise provided under this chapter.

(3) These provisions shall not apply to handicapped minors for whom special handicapped minor work permits have been issued as provided in RCW 49.12.110. The handicapped rate therein shall be set at a rate designed to adequately reflect the individual's earning capacity.