In this guide, we'll discuss young workers, the legal risks, and the benefits they can bring to your workforce.
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What is a Young Worker?
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HR management outsourcing is when a team of experts manage your HR by looking after your contracts, policies, and procedures.
These are the HR essentials every business needs. Without them, your staff could bring successful claims against you, you could lose thousands in legal fines, and even face prosecution. Never underestimate the benefits of HR support for a small business.
We have years of experience in providing HR for SMEs and HR management outsourcing. Contact us to see how we can support you, including HR advice for small businesses - as well as medium and large companies.
Good human resource management is having round the clock support when you need it the most.
Whenever there’s a staff challenge or an important legal update, you just pick up the phone and get the help you need – no matter the time or place.
The main benefits of HR outsourcing are:
- Cost saving: Reduces the expenses for such things are hiring, training and employing an in-house HR team.
- Time saving: Saves time for staff members away from HR tasks.
- Improves expertise and compliance: Provides ongoing advice and support to ensure complete and total compliance.
- Reduces risk: Reduces the risk of any payroll and compliance failures.
Outsourcing HR is cheaper than hiring internal staff and saves you money overall when it comes to your HR service. Plus, you avoid making mistakes that could cost you heavily in claims and legal fines down the line. Every business should consider HR support as a way to avoid claims.
Peninsula is one of the leading HR outsourcing services in the UK, and by working with us you get access to our HR advisory service. Contact us for your outsourced SME HR today.
The key functions of HR outsourcing services are:
- Payroll and benefits: Helps a business to manage employee wages, tax processing, and employee enrolment.
- Recruitment and onboarding: Helps with job descriptions, sourcing new candidates, interviewing, and ensuring a smooth onboarding process.
- Compliance with employment law: Helps to ensure compliance with ever-changing employment legislation.
- Employee relations: Helps to manage grievance and disciplinary procedures, and any ongoing support that's required.
- HR admin: Helps to handle and manage daily tasks, such as employee records, sorting employment contracts, and processing any leave requests.
- Training and development: Helps to create and deliver staff training programs to improve employees' skills.
Research by charity Working Families found that 75% of mothers were employed in the UK last year. However, 52% of new mothers felt unsatisfied by the lack of support upon their return to the workplace.
The UK economy has seen a strong interest in temporary employment in recent years. In fact, there were approximately 1.5 million temporary or casual workers in the UK in November 2024, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
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As an employer, it's your legal responsibility to care for all staff. This means being aware of their employment rights and ensuring you comply with relevant legislation. Especially when hiring young workers.
Young workers can provide several benefits to your business, such as offering up new perspectives and being cost-effective. But, they also have their own set of employment rights you need to uphold.
If you fail to manage a young worker's employment, you might risk legal proceedings, hefty fines, and even claims to an employment tribunal.
In this guide, we'll discuss young workers, the legal risks, and the benefits they can bring to your workforce.
Who is classed as a young worker?
A young worker is a worker who is over the minimum school leaving age but under 18. In England, the Education and Skills Act 2008 states that a young worker between minimum school leaving age and 18 should either:
Be in full-time education or . For example, school or college.
Work or volunteer (for 20 or more hours a week), whilst in part-time education or training.
When can young people start work?
A young person can start full-time work once they’ve reached school leaving age. This is as long as employers comply with their other workplace rights.
What are the employment rights of young workers?
Young workers have different employment rights to workers over 18. if you don’t consider them, you could be at risk of unlawful business practice. Young workers' rights include:
Working day and hours: The law states that a young person cannot work more than eight hours a day. Similarly in a working week, they cannot work more than 40 hours.
Rest breaks: The rest breaks of young workers depend on the hours they work. If their working day is more than 4.5 hours, they are entitled to a 30-minute break.
Pay: Young workers aged 16-17 should be paid at least £5.28 per hour.
Trade unions: Young workers also have the right to join a trade union. They also don't need to advise their employer that they have joined one.
How many hours of rest does a young worker need between shifts?
A young worker should have twelve hours of rest in any 24-hour period in which they are working. And, 48 hours of rest taken together each week. This might not always be possible due to certain business reasons.
For example, if your business is in the retail sector - Christmas will be a busy period and you'll need staff to be more available. In this instance, you should provide the young person at least 36 hours' of continuous rest. The remaining twelve hours should be taken as soon as possible after the busy period.
Are young workers protected from discrimination?
Yes, the Equality Act 2010 does protect young workers from discrimination. Under the act, age is a protected characteristic. This means, if an employer treats a young worker unfairly because of their age, the law would class it as discrimination.
Ensure you recognise how and when a young person might experience discrimination, especially those that are particularly vulnerable. e.g. a young worker with a disability.
Can young workers work nights?
No, young workers cannot work nights ornight jobs. Young workers can only work hours not within the 'restricted period'. This period is:
Between 10pm and 6am if their contract does not say.
Between 11pm and 7am if their contract allows for them to work after 10pm.
The benefits of employing young workers
As long as you comply with legislation, there are several benefits your business might gain from hiring young workers. These are:
Offers fresh perspectives: Employing young workers can allow for new perspectives and fresh ideas from a different generation - with different ways of thinking. For example, tech-savvy businesses may be attracted to hiring young people, as they might want to make the most of people who have grown up with technology.
Willingness to develop: Young employees can also be seen as a blank state to mould practices and preferences into, without having to break bad habits from their previous workplaces or work experience.
Cost-effective solution: Employing someone under 18 can often be a cost-effective solution since they have a lower rate. Not to mention, starting salaries usually don’t attract the same wage bill as adult workers.
Get expert advice on young workers from Peninsula
You should ensure you manage the employment of young workers properly. This includes providing appropriate rest breaks, limiting their working hours, and paying the national minimum wage.
If you don't, your business could face severe consequences. Such as, legal proceedings, legal costs, and even employment tribunal claims.
Peninsula offers expert advice on employing young workers. Our teams offer 24/7 HR advice which is available 365 days a year. We take care of everything when you work with our HR experts.
Want to find out more? Contact us on 0800 029 4377 and book a free consultation with an HR consultant today.
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