Introduction

If you want to employ young people - and in some cases this means anybody up to the age of 25 - you need to be aware of your legal responsibilities.

To protect the health and welfare of young people there are strict laws governing their employment.

To ensure young people receive the best opportunities there are laws governing their training and education - as well as voluntary schemes from which your business could benefit.

This guide provides an overview of the law relating to young workers at different stages of their lives.

Workers under 16: the rules

Under the Children and Young Persons Act  no child under 13 may be employed. There is an exception  for certain types of performance, such as acting,  where a part can only be undertaken by a child of that age.  Working hours  are strictly controlled and in most cases require a licence from the child's local  authority.

Responsibility for issuing permits normally rests with the education welfare service.  Nobody under 16 may be employed in manufacturing or any dangerous activity.

Strict rules govern the employment of school-age teenagers and they must be adhered to, even if you only want to employ them to do a paper round. They may also require a permit from your local authority.

A teenager can leave school on the last Friday in June if they are 16 or will be 16 before the start of the next school year.

National law
In England, Wales and Scotland young people aged between 13 and the minimum school-leaving age may not do any work, paid or unpaid:

• before 7am or after 7pm
• for more than two hours on a school day or Sunday
• for more than 12 hours a week during term time
• in the holidays for more than 25 hours a week - 35 hours if aged 15 or over

The rules in Northern Ireland are different for children aged 13 and older - see the Employment of Children Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996 at the Stationery Office website.

You also have to follow special rules about rest breaks, time off and holidays for young workers.

You must do a risk assessment before taking on school-age workers, or review your existing risk assessment. 

Your local authority

Your local authority might have its own rules affecting school-aged workers so it's important to check on these by-laws too.

You must also notify your local authority. They may require:

• evidence that the job will not be dangerous -  your risk assessment and health and safety policy will be useful for this
• a permit for each worker issued by your local authority or your local education authority

Workers aged 16 and 17: the rules

If workers are over the minimum school-leaving age but under 18, they must not work for more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. If you employ anybody in this age group you must also give them:

• a break of 30 minutes every four-and-a-half hours worked
• a rest period of 12 hours between each working day
• two days off a week

All 16 and 17-year-olds are also entitled to a national minimum wage of £3 an hour. Apprentices under 19 are exempt from the national minimum wage.

Risk assessments

You must carry out, or review, a risk assessment, paying attention to the health and safety implications of employing young people. Consider their immaturity as well as their inexperience when you do this

Under-18s may be employed in certain dangerous environments only if it is necessary for their training, and they are supervised and the risks are minimised.

Training

If you take on an employee aged 16 or 17 who has not received a certain level of education,  they may be entitled to paid time off for study or training. Your business may be entitled to financial help toward the cost of this.

You can take on an employee up to the age of 24 under the apprenticeship programme or one of your employees can join the programme. Read about apprenticeships on the Learning and Skills Council website.

Young employees who believe they have suffered a detriment because of requesting time off for training or have been refused it may complain to an employment tribunal.

Redundancy

If  you need to make a young worker redundant, workers under 18 are not entitled to statutory redundancy pay. For older workers, any time spent working for you before the worker turned 18 is not counted when calculating statutory redundancy pay.

Young workers over 18: the rules

You may still have special responsibilities to young workers, even when they are over the age of 18.

National minimum wage

At 18, you must pay young workers at least the national minimum wage. This is:

• £4.10  per hour for people aged 18 to 21 (increasing to £4.25 per hour from 1 October 2005, and £4.45 from 1 October 2006)
• £4.85  per hour for those aged 22 and over (increasing to £5.05 per hour from 1 October 2005, and £5.35 from 1 October 2006), or £4.10 for those aged 22 or over who are receiving accredited training for their first six months with a new employer (increasing to £4.25 per hour from 1 October 2005, and £4.45 from 1 October 2006)

Training

If you take on an employee aged 18 to 24 who has been claiming Jobseeker's Allowance for six months or more, they may be eligible for the New Deal. In addition to their statutory right to two days off a week,  you must give a New Deal employee at least one day off a week, or its equivalent, for study for a period of up to six months. You may get financial help to fund this.

You may be required to give 18-year-old employees paid time off to complete study or training begun when they were 16 or 17 if they had failed to reach a certain standard of education at school. For further information, read about time off for studying or training for young people on the Department for Education and Skills website.

Related web sites you might find useful

Read about training at the Skills for Employees website
http://www.dfes.gov.uk

Read a guide for employers on the time off for training on the Department for Education and Skills website
http://www.dfes.gov.uk

Read about financial help for time off for study or training on the Department for Education and Skills website
http://www.dfes.gov.uk

Learn about apprenticeships at the Learning and Skills Council website
http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk

Find out if you are paying your workers the correct wage on the Acas website (interactive tool)
http://www.tiger.gov.uk

Find out about the New Deal on the New Deal website
http://www.newdeal.gov.uk