Advo HR Consultant Sam Brown takes a closer look at dos, don’ts and legals of employing temporary or permanent young workers.

As, the UK school year draws to a close next month many employers may be thinking about the benefits that young workers could bring to their business over the summer holidays. Perhaps your business might be thinking about offering work experience to employee’s children or offering summer work to students before they resume their studies in September. Maybe you are generally considering employing a young worker on a permanent basis.  Young workers can be positive hire – they are thought to be cost effective for businesses and enhance team dynamics with their youthful outlook and enthusiasm. They provide an excellent opportunity for businesses to invest in your future workforce.

If this kind of thing is on your radar, then your business also needs to be aware that workers under the age of 18 do have particular legal rights.

So, what is a young worker?    A young worker is classed as someone who is under 18. It’s actually against the law for someone under 18 to leave school completely or to start any full time work before they turn 18. However, they can work part time, whilst they study. For example, you may offer a 16 year old worker a weekend job as a waiter in your restaurant, but it couldn’t be a full time role, until they turn 18. And if you do employ a child who has not yet reached compulsory school age (which is up to 16) then you must apply to your local education authority for a work permit to do so.

This permit will mean you need to get parental consent, have proof of the children’s age and do a risk assessment on before they join you. There are also several restrictions on when and where children are allowed to work.  There are also special rules which only apply during term times and school holiday times.

You will also need to check if the type of work you are offering is permitted. If its anything hazardous perhaps a factory or a building site, then the answer will be no, but you can find a list of jobs that are allowed and not allowed at your local authority’s website.

If your young employee is below 18 but above 16, then they must not work over 8 hours a day or 40 hours per week and they must have a 30-minute break if working longer than 4.5 hours. They must also get 12 hours’ rest in any 24-hour working period and have 48 hours’ rest taken together each week, or at least 36 hours, with the remaining 12 hours’ rest taken as soon as possible afterwards.

The minimum wage applies to young workers and is currently set at £7.55 per hour as of April 2025. This only doesn’t apply if the person is still at school and working part time for you and they also don’t pay National Insurance until they reach 16 and school leaving age.

Employers must take extra care about the health and safety of their young ones. This would mean completing a young worker’s risk assessment to identity and prevent any hazards in the workplace.

Lastly, work experience placements can be different. Sometimes, you might decide to offer a student a taste of your business by allowing them to have a short term placement in your business, for example during their school holidays.  This is intended to give them experience of the workplace but the same rules around hours and health and safety apply. You might offer this as unpaid experience to a student but be mindful that if the person is doing more than shadowing and actually doing tasks then you might be liable for the minimum wage payment.

So, there are lots of considerations before you proceed and as always, Advo can support your organisation and our experienced HR and Payroll teams can help you navigate the hire and payment of young workers within the law and compliantly.