Regulations for 14 year olds

juggernought

Give him some money, get him to start his own business. Problem solved.

getmore4less

Baby(child) sitting was the job that was wanted when I was that age.

trailingspouse

This is so sad. I did so many jobs at that age. Paper round from age 14, then at 16 I was filling shelves/working on the till at Boots. At 17 I got a job as an usherette at the Crucible theatre in Sheffield (and was still doing the paper round and the Boots job). I don't remember there being any regs - you just got it in the neck if you were late for school or hadn't done your homework...


So I was working for probably an hour in the morning, 7 days a week. Then 9 - 5 on a Saturday, then 3 - 4 hours three nights a week at the theatre, not finishing until gone 11 on a Saturday night. My Saturdays were busy (paper round in the morning, filling shelves all day, theatre in the evening). Wouldn't be allowed to do it now, I guess. I did this right up to Lower Sixth, but gave all three jobs up when I went in to Upper Sixth.


I hope your son finds something. All power to him.

[Deleted User]

My patents made me get a 'pot wash job' even with epilepsy in my later school years.

I was the the oldest and they were a lot more torlerent with bro just a couple of years younger evens doing the paper round for him, he is now a cripple anyway and won't make the same age bones due to his injuries.

Marcon

Lomast wrote: »

As a former company director im afraid the main reason will be that every insurer i spoke to would not cover anyone under the age of 16 some even 18.

The only exemption i did find was that some would insure children of the directors

Clearly the hair salon featured in the TV programme managed to get insurance for a 14 year old!

FBaby

I agree. DD was desperate to work from the age of 14, but however much she tried, no one would take her on because of insurance issues mainly. She got a job as soon as she turned 16 as did DS and many of their friends.

Savvy_Sue

Marcon wrote: »

Clearly the hair salon featured in the TV programme managed to get insurance for a 14 year old!

or - perish the thought - no-one at the salon thought to check the insurance situation....

shortcrust

getmore4less wrote: »

Baby(child) sitting was the job that was wanted when I was that age.

I think I just wanted my parents to give me money at that age! Then railed against the injustice of it when they suggested I get a job.:o

TBagpuss

If your son wants to earn money he could look at trying to do things like babysitting , washing cars or gardening, for friends and neighbours, where the issues around formal employment rules are far likely to be raised!

I think that one of the reasons it is more difficult is that there are more restrictions and concerns about employing children, and there aren't really any advantages for the employer - it's much easier from their point of view to employ someone who is 16+. If they employ someone younger, they have to consider, and check, the rules about hours of work, insurance, child protection, nature of the work etc.

Admittedly, the NMW doesn't apply so in thery you could employ someone under 16 and pay them less than £4 an hour, but would you want your child working for someone who would exploit them in that way? And frankly,for most employers, the hassle of the other issues would outweigh the tiny saving that you might make on wages.

I think small local businesses, run by family or friends, are the best chance at finding paid work.

SueC_2

As well as working time and insurance issues, there's a whole raft of health and safety considerations:



http://www.hse.gov.uk/youngpeople/index.htm

Sad but true.... the effort of undertaking Young Workers Assessments, and then monitoring the young person, ensuring they are not being adversely affected by their work in any way is generally not worth the contribution the young person is going to make to the workplace. Of course there are exceptions, but generally speaking that's probably why a lot of employers consider it "too hard" to employ young people.