School-leaving age

In order to work out whether someone is considered a young worker, it’s helpful to get to grips with what the school-leaving age means in the UK. According to the UK government website, the school-leaving age varies depending on where the young person lives. 

In England, a young person can leave school on the last Friday in June if they will be 16 by the end of the summer holidays. They are then eligible to work for up to 20 hours or more a week while they are in part-time education or training, until they turn 18. However, in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, young people do not have to stay in education once they reach school-leaving age.

In Scotland, a young person can leave school on 31 May if they turn 16 between 1 March and 30 September of that same year. In Wales, they can leave school on the last Friday of June as long as they will be 16 by the end of that year’s summer holidays. Finally, in Northern Ireland, if a young person turns 16 between 1 September and 1 July, they can leave school after 30 June.

In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, once a young person has reached school-leaving age, they are able to start work full-time. Before this, the kind of work a young person is able to do is more restricted. Workers under school-leaving age can only work part-time, and as long as it fits in around their compulsory education. 

What rights do young workers have?

Young workers have some rights that workers over 18 do not have. Alongside this, they are protected by many of the same rules as workers over 18. This includes health and safety rights, as well as those in the Equality Act 2010, which include freedom from discrimination on grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age. 

Like other workers, all young workers should ideally have a copy of the written terms and conditions of their employment. They are also entitled to unpaid leave for any emergencies relating to family. UK law says that young workers are entitled to redundancy pay and are allowed paid time off for training. 

According to UK legislation, young workers have the right to join a trade union, and may not be dismissed on grounds of them claiming their rights. The UK government also states that young workers are not allowed to:

• work more than eight hours per day;
• work more than 40 hours a week.

In addition, UK law says that young workers are not allowed to operate heavy machinery, such as a forklift truck, unless being trained with the correct supervision from a member of staff qualified to do so. 

There are also special rules that tell you how much a young worker needs to rest, as made clear by the UK government. These are:

• If their working day is longer than four and a half hours, they require a 30-minute break;
• They must have 12 hours’ rest between one working day and another;
• They must have at least two days’ worth of rest each week, which should be taken consecutively, unless the employer can provide a sufficient reason not to. 

There are some circumstances where young workers are allowed to work over 40 hours a week. This could be when there is no employee over 18 who is available to take that work on instead, for example. 

Employers might look at keeping a record of how long their young workers are working, in order to ensure that they are not working over the allowed 40 hours a week. This record can also show whether they have completed any work outside restricted hours, any night work and show any health assessments that they were offered before they started working.

It is a good idea to hold onto these records for at least two years after they were made. This is so that employers can prove that they have been following UK legislation if challenged on this.

Young worker wage entitlement in the UK

Young workers’ wage entitlements vary depending on their age and whether their work is part of an apprenticeship. As of April 2022, a young worker doing an apprenticeship is entitled to a minimum of £4.81 per hour if they are under 19. Young workers completing non-apprenticeship work are also paid a minimum of £4.81 an hour if they are between the ages of 16 to 17. If a young worker earns over £123, employers need to look at deducting tax, as they would for any other worker or employee who earns over this total.

Employing a family member as a young worker

Some business owners might want to employ a young family member. In this situation, the UK government states that employers must:

• avoid special treatment or pay, promotions or working conditions;
• follow established working time regulations for young workers;
• have employer liability insurance that covers young family members;
• make sure that the young worker is still paying tax and NI contributions, if applicable;
• check whether they need to be provided with a workplace pension scheme. 

How to conduct a risk assessment for young workers

While it is essential that businesses conduct risk assessments in order to comply with UK government health and safety regulations, it is important to also assess the specific risks posed to young workers in your workplace. This is especially the case for employers who are looking to hire a young worker for the first time – it is worth updating any pre-existing risk assessment arrangements to accommodate them. 

Firstly, it is worth considering what risks are posed to young workers in particular, and why. As young workers often lack the maturity, experience and physical capabilities of their adult colleagues, they will often need to be supervised by an experienced employee who is able to train, instruct and supervise them correctly.

Some young workers may not be aware of their limitations at their age. This means that having a supervisor who is diplomatic about their current lack of experience or physical ability can be helpful. 

Employers might choose to simplify a role so that their young workers are not responsible for operating machinery. It is worth looking into the age restrictions on operating equipment and machinery in the UK.

According to the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998, young people aged under 18 cannot use high-risk lifting machinery like forklift trucks unless fully trained. Some types of risk that employers may want to consider in a risk assessment include:

• whether the role requires physical labour such as operating machinery or lifting heavy goods;
• whether the role involves handling toxic or hazardous substances;
• noise levels;
• fire risks.

What to do when recruiting a worker who is under school-leaving age

For employers who are looking to recruit a child under school-leaving age, they will need to have received a permit from a local education welfare service or local council education department. To find out more about the legislation on hiring children under school-leaving age, the UK government website provides further information. 

Finally, it is important for employers to bear in mind UK government law when hiring a young worker. Young workers have the same protected characteristics as workers aged over 18, including discrimination on the basis of age and/or perceived age.