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Young Workers: Do you know the facts?
Listed under: Retail Clinic
Published: Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Young workers might be a Godsend at busier times of year, but are you at risk of breaking the law? Rita Mehta, solicitor and member of Thomas Eggar LLP's retail team, gives us the lowdown
The benefits of hiring young workers are clear. They can help develop your business, provide you with fresh creative ideas and are comparatively cheaper to employ than adults. However, hiring these individuals is not all plain sailing. In fact, recruiting young workers is a highly regulated activity, which can cross over into a number of statutes, local authority bye-laws and rules all aimed at protecting their health, well-being, safety and education.
So what do you need to know? The first question to ask yourself is whether the individual is a child or young person? Any candidate who is not over the compulsory school age is the former, while the latter is someone who is over this age, but still under 18 years old. As a business owner, it is important to understand that the rules for employing children are different to that of hiring a young person.
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, young people cannot work more than eight hours per day and are only permitted to do a maximum of 40 hours per week. Unlike adults, they cannot opt out of the imposed limit and must have a rest break of 30 minutes if they work more than 4.5 hours per day, as well as 12 hours off between each day and two days off a week. The laws around night working are complex, however, the general rule is that a young person may not ordinarily do shifts between 10pm and 6am.
It is important to recognise that young staff are likely to be relatively inexperienced when it comes to working in a retail environment and should therefore be offered training and support. Whilst the usual health and safety requirements apply, thorough risk assessments will also need to be carried out. Employers also need to consider if the provision under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVGA) apply.
To avoid falling foul of the law, employers should set clear systems and processes in place for monitoring the hours a young person works and rests, ensuring they adhere to all the necessary rules.
So what do you need to know? The first question to ask yourself is whether the individual is a child or young person? Any candidate who is not over the compulsory school age is the former, while the latter is someone who is over this age, but still under 18 years old. As a business owner, it is important to understand that the rules for employing children are different to that of hiring a young person.
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, young people cannot work more than eight hours per day and are only permitted to do a maximum of 40 hours per week. Unlike adults, they cannot opt out of the imposed limit and must have a rest break of 30 minutes if they work more than 4.5 hours per day, as well as 12 hours off between each day and two days off a week. The laws around night working are complex, however, the general rule is that a young person may not ordinarily do shifts between 10pm and 6am.
It is important to recognise that young staff are likely to be relatively inexperienced when it comes to working in a retail environment and should therefore be offered training and support. Whilst the usual health and safety requirements apply, thorough risk assessments will also need to be carried out. Employers also need to consider if the provision under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 (SVGA) apply.
To avoid falling foul of the law, employers should set clear systems and processes in place for monitoring the hours a young person works and rests, ensuring they adhere to all the necessary rules.
