Learner not the first person to be paid for work (6)
I believe the answer is:
earner
'learner' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'not the first person to be paid for work' is the wordplay.
'not the first' means to remove the first letter.
'person' becomes 'per' (abbreviation).
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'be paid for work' becomes 'earn' (I've seen this in another clue).
'per' with its initial letter taken off is 'er'.
'er' put after 'earn' is 'EARNER'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for earner that I've seen before include "One in employment" , "Person bringing in" , "Profitable undertaking" , "Money-making activity" , "Cash job" .)