Embracing the Summer Energy: Employing Young People

As the sun begins to shine brighter, schools close their doors and the summer holidays start, more and more businesses are likely to be approached by young people aged between 14 and 18 for a summer job. This time of year presents a unique opportunity for businesses to offer summer employment to young people.

Who are children and young workers?

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) define a young worker as someone who has reached the school leaving age but is under 18. The school leaving age in England, Scotland and Wales is 16, so in these countries a young worker is someone who is aged 16 or 17.

A child is defined as under school leaving age, but 14 or over (13-year-olds may be employed in exceptional circumstances). The usual employment legislation, such as the National Minimum and Living Wage and the WTR, does not apply to children (instead, they are dealt with under their own specific legislation).

What work can they perform?

Firstly, employers must register any children in their employment with their local authority. Children can be employed doing “light work”, that does not risk their health, safety or development. This can include:

• delivering newspapers
• shop work, such as stacking shelves
• work in a restaurant or café (but not kitchen work)
• car washing
• work in hairdressing salons
• office work
• domestic work in hotels or other accommodation
• occasional agricultural or horticultural work

Children cannot work in an “industrial undertaking” such as manufacturing, construction, transportation or warehousing, nor can they work in almost any form of gambling. They also cannot sell alcohol, unless working in a restaurant and serving it as part of a meal.

Although young workers are able to participate in a wide scope of tasks, additional health and safety risk assessments should be completed, taking into consideration their potential lack of maturity and knowledge.

Special employment rules

Due to their age, and the requirement to remain in education or training until 18 years old (note that this applies in England only, and even then, they can still work but may be limited in the hours they can commit), there are more restrictions on the hours that children and young workers can work, as well as an entitlement to longer breaks. This can make things complex when organising schedules, as particular attention must be given to individual workers’ ages and ensure they schedule them in accordance with the rules for their age.

Term time rules:

During term time children can only work for a maximum of 12 hours a week. This includes:

• A maximum of 2 hours on school days and Sundays
• A maximum of 5 hours on Saturdays for 13–14-year-olds, or 8 hours for 15–16-year-olds

School holiday rules:

During school holidays 13 to 14 year olds are only allowed to work a maximum of 25 hours a week. This includes:

• A maximum of 5 hours on weekdays and Saturdays
• A maximum of 2 hours on Sunday

During school holidays 15 to 16-year-olds can only work a maximum of 35 hours a week. This includes

• A maximum of 8 hours on weekdays and Saturdays
• A maximum of 2 hours on Sunday

Why employ children and young workers?

Children and young workers can be of particular use for short shifts, that older workers may not want, as these groups are more limited on the hours they can work per day by the law and may be able to be more flexible as their commitments are different to older workers.

Employing children and young workers has many benefits: it keeps costs low, as there is no minimum wage until they are 16 years old, it may be work that older workers do not want to do and the work can be used as a way to assess the suitability of the individual for longer-term employment, such as considering whether a child working in a hairdressers on a Saturday might be a suitable candidate for an apprenticeship.

Looking to the future

Employing young people and children is a great way to introduce them to the business. Employers may decide to offer children and young people currently (or previously) employed either a permanent role or a fixed-term role designed to provide training alongside working. These can include:

• apprenticeships
• sponsored degrees and other qualifications
• traineeships (strictly speaking these are not employed by the employer but involve working with them to gain essential skills and experience)
• internships

Apprenticeships and sponsored degrees, etc are longer-term commitments to the employee, equipping them with skills and qualifications relevant to their work. At the end of an apprenticeship, the apprentice may well move onto a new organisation, as there is no guarantee of employment at the end. Should employers choose to keep them on, they can be confident in their abilities and already have a working relationship with them, rather than starting with someone new who is untested.

For employers who are looking to develop and retain staff, sponsoring degrees, etc is a great way to build skills, loyalty and commitment. Employers can place conditions on this sponsorship, such as a requirement to remain employed following completion of the qualification for a certain time or risk having to pay some or all of the money back.

Interns are not formally defined in law and so will typically be either there for work experience, not performing work of value and so can be unpaid or can perform tasks as a paid employee. Again, this time can be used to assess the individual’s suitability for future employment.

Paying children and young workers

When paying children and young workers there are a few key things to keep in mind.

Children under 16 are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage and do not pay National Insurance, so are only required to be included on the business payroll if their total income is over their personal allowance. For the 2022/23 tax year this is £12,570.

Once children reach aged 16, they are entitled to the National Minimum Wage, which is currently £5.28 per hour. If the business is registered for PAYE, employers should record and report their pay as part of their payroll.

Conclusion

Embracing the summer energy and employing young people during their holiday break can have many benefits for employers. There are specific rules that need to be adhered to and employers must act carefully to ensure their health and wellbeing are safeguarded, but with those in place, this employment can be made to work now and in the future.

If we manage your payroll for you, we can help you with employing young people.

Photo by Simon Maage on Unsplash