The Law on Employing Children

If you are in an industry where employing children is the norm, you will need to know about the laws surrounding child employment, such as minimum ages and pay scales.

Child work and minimum ages

A child can start part time work when they reach the age of 13. This is the minimum age for part time work, other than when children are employed in television, theatre and modelling work. Any child working in these areas will require a performance licence.

When it comes to full time work, children are only permitted to commence such a role once they reach the minimum school leaving age. Once they do, they are allowed to work up to a maximum of 40 hours per week. When someone reaches the age of 18, they immediately attain adult employment rights. In England, all young people must either be in training or part time education until they are 18 years of age.

Paying children and young people for work

 

Children under the age of 16 are not entitled to the National Minimum Wage. Under the age of 16, there is no National Insurance to pay, so they do not need to be included on the payroll unless their total income exceeds their Personal Allowance.

Once a child reaches the age of 16, things change. Young workers between the ages of 16 and 17 are entitled to a minimum of £4.20 per hour. Their pay must be included in your running payroll. If they earn more than £116 per week then you must include them in your PAYE calculations.

Restrictions on child working

There are numerous restrictions in place when it comes to child working. For example, children are not permitted to work during school hours; for more than one hour before school, unless allowed under local bylaws; before 7am or after 7pm; in an industrial setting; without an employment permit issued by the local council’s education department (if required under local bylaws); for more than four hours without a break lasting a minimum of one hour; in any work that may be harmful to their health, well-being or education; without a two week break from any work during the school holidays for each calendar year and in most betting shop and pub roles and those prohibited by local bylaws.

Special rules apply during term and school holiday times.

During term time, children can only work up to 12 hours per week. This includes  maximum of two hours on Sundays and school days, and a maximum of five hours on Saturdays for those aged between 13 and 14 years, or 8 hours for 15-16 year olds.

During school holidays, children aged between 13 and 14 are only permitted to work up to 25 hours per week, including a maximum of five hours on Saturdays and weekdays, and a maximum of two hours on Sundays. 15-16 year olds can work up to 35 hours per week, including a maximum of 8 hours on Saturdays and weekdays, and up to two hours on Sundays.

Local bylaws and child working

 

Local bylaws vary and will set out the jobs that children cannot undertake if they are under the minimum school leaving age. Some will also restrict working hours, the type of employment that a child can undertake, and the conditions of that work. You’ll need to liaise with the education department of your local council or the education welfare service to learn more and ensure you are working within their parameters.

If you are in any doubt as to pay scales for child workers, your bookkeepers will be able to provide the guidance you need.

The Law on Holiday Pay and Casual Workers

Employers are of course aware of the requirement to pay its workforce a certain amount of paid leave every year. But what about casual workers, are they also entitled to paid holiday leave? Let’s take a look.

Every worker is entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual holiday and accrued holiday pay on termination, calculated from the first day of their employment contract.

When you have workers on a 5-day, 40-hour working week, it is straightforward to calculate their entitlement to 28 days of paid holiday per year. For other regular shift patterns, it is simply a case of multiplying the number of working days each week by 5.6 to discover the yearly entitlement. However, when it comes to workers with irregular working patterns such as casual workers or those on zero hours contracts, it gets a little trickier to make the calculation. But these people are still entitled to statutory leave, so it is important to know how to work out their entitlement.

Casual worker calculations

The most straightforward way of working out holiday entitlement for casual workers is to award them accrued entitlement. In other words, they get to earn holiday entitlement based on the number of hours they have actually worked.

You will need to ensure your employees accrue the minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid leave. To do this, there is a rule you can apply. This is the ‘rule of 12.07 per cent’. This means that for each hour an employee works, 12.07 per cent of it, i.e. 7.242 minutes, is paid holiday entitlement.

So for example, workers who complete three 8-hour shifts every week for four weeks will accrue 11.5872 hours of holiday entitlement. This means they can book almost one and a half shifts off work, and still be entitled to get paid.

For businesses operating outside of regular hours, for example those that open on bank holidays, these can be included in the standard holiday allowance. So whilst there is a reduction in the number of days employees are able to book as paid leave, it does mean they get paid for bank holidays.

To improve morale and staff retention, some employers increase the amount of paid leave they offer their workers. For example, some employers will offer both the standard 28 days of paid leave, or the equivalent for casual workers, plus bank holidays.

If you are uncertain about how much leave to pay your casual workers for, or any workers for that matter, your bookkeepers will be able to help you make the calculations.

The Law on Work Rest Breaks Explained

Workers over the age of 18 years are generally entitled to three different types of rest break during the working day. These are rest breaks at work; daily rest and weekly rest. Here we are taking a look at each of these three types of break.

Rest breaks at work

Anyone who works more than six hours per day is entitled to one 20-minute rest break during the day. Whether this is a tea break or a lunch break is up to the employer, and whether the break should be paid for is a matter to be set out in the employment contract. There is no law to dictate that rest breaks should be paid.

Daily rest breaks

Workers have the right to a minimum of 11 hours rest between their working days. So for example, anyone finishing work at 5pm should not start work again until 4am the next day.

Weekly rest

There are two main rights that workers hold with regard to weekly rest. The first is a right to an interrupted 24 hours without any work each week. The second is an uninterrupted 48 hours without any work each fortnight.

Different workplaces, different contracts

Some employment contracts may state that the worker is entitled to more or different breaks from work. Providing the minimums are honoured, it is up to the employer to set out the details of the breaks.

Employers must give their workforce sufficient breaks to ensure their health and safety is not put at risk. This is particularly important when work is monotonous, for example production line work. Workers in domestic private houses, for example au pairs or cleaners, are not entitled to rest breaks for health and safety reasons.

Rest break timings

Employers are able to state when employees take rest breaks during work time, providing they meet certain criteria. One of these criteria is that the break is taken in one go somewhere in the middle of the day, i.e. not right at the beginning or end of the day. The other is that workers are allowed to spend their breaks away from their workstation.

If an employer insists that a member of staff returns to work before their break is finished, then the break does not count. In other words, workers must be allowed to take their full breaks.

Other rights regarding breaks

Unless it is specifically set out in a worker’s employment contract, members of staff do not have the right to take breaks for smoking, or get paid for rest breaks.

Special circumstances and exceptions

Some workers, for example shift workers, are entitled to compensatory rest breaks. Lorry and coach drivers, and young people, have different rights when it comes to rest breaks.

For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work. You can also talk to your local bookkeepers who will point you in the right direction when it comes to staff rest breaks.