Careers Information & Advice - About Work

Under 13 - you can only get a job in special circumstances with permission from your Local Authority.

Aged 13, 14 and 15 - you can only do light work. This means that you cannot do any job that can affect your health and safety or may interfere with your education. Things you can do include babysitting and taking on a paper round. You are allowed to do very light work in places like shops or hairdressers.

16 and have left school/college - You are allowed to leave school on the last Friday in June of the school/college year in which you turn 16. Once you have left, and you begin working you are referred to as a young worker. This means that you'll have more choice in the jobs you can do.

18 or over - you get the same work rights as adults.

There are rules that regulate what times of the day you can work and for how long. These are different depending on your age:

14 year olds:

• During term time, you can only work for two hours on weekdays and Sundays and five hours on Saturdays BUT when you add up your hours they must not come to more than 12 hours in any school/college week
• During a school/college holiday, you can work for up to five hours on a week day or a Saturday and two hours on a Sunday BUT when you add up your hours they must not come to more than 25 hours in any holiday week
• You cannot work before 7.00 am or after 7.00 pm on any day either in school/college holidays or term time.

15 and 16 year olds If you're 15 or 16 and are working while you're still at school/college, your rights are almost the same as those of 14 year olds. However, you are allowed to work for up to eight hours on Saturdays or during the school holidays, BUT you cannot work for more than 35 hours in any holiday week.

For more information please go to the North Yorkshire County Council website.

Young Workers aged 16 - 17

There are restrictions related to employing young workers which cover hours, type of work and salary.

You'll only be able to work for 8 hours every day, or a total of 40 hours over the course of a week. You cannot usually work an overnight shift either, but there are some exceptional circumstances where you can.

Because you've reached school/college leaving age, you may find that employers may be more willing to offer you part-time or full-time employment. You're also not limited to just 'light work', so you'll be allowed to work in places like a busy shop, restaurant kitchen or as a waiter or waitress.

Yes - if you are under the age of 16, and you are still at school/college, you require a work permit. It is illegal for you to work without one. Please click here to find out more.

Yes you do if you are eligible. You can use this form to make an application to work flexibly under the right provided in law to help eligible employees care for their children or for an adult. Before completing this form, read the guidance on the right to request flexible working on the Directgov website, and check that you are eligible to make a request.

If you are under 16, the National Minimum wage does not apply to you. If you have left school/college, you are entitled to receive it as follows:

NOTE: The following rates applied from 1 October 2011:

• The adult rate aged 21 years and older - £6.08 an hour
• The rate for 18-20 year olds - £4.98 an hour
• The rate for 16-17 year olds - £3.68 an hour
• The rate for apprentices has increased £2.60 an hour.

 Go to Directgov to find out more information.

Added 21 December

Agricultural apprentices are entitled to a different rate of pay than apprentices who work in other sectors.

The Apprenticeship National Minimum Wage policy states that apprentices are entitled to £2.60 per hour and they qualify for the age related National Minimum Wage after they turn 19 and have completed the first 12 months of their Apprenticeship.

The minimum rates for apprentices working in the Agricultural sector (as defined in The Agricultural Wages (England and Wales) Order 2011) from 1 October 2011 are shown below:

Year and Age

Hourly Rate

Weekly Rate

Overtime Rate

Year 1 of Apprenticeship

£3.57

£139.23

£5.36

Year 2 of Apprenticeship if aged 16 - 17

£3.68

£143.52

£5.52

Year 2 of Apprenticeship if aged 18 - 20

£4.98

£194.22

£7.47

Year 2 of Apprenticeship if aged 21 or over

£6.08

£237.12

£9.12

From their third year on, an Apprenticeship minimum rate of pay for a Grade 2 Standard Worker will apply. For more information see DirectGov.

If you're 16 or over you may be able to claim certain benefits or tax credits (government payments) if you're on a low income, looking for work, disabled or caring for a child or older person. Directgov gives you information.

Employers offer part time work at various times throughout the year, and some tend to have more vacancies when they are busiest. For example, retailers may advertise at Christmas or Easter, whereas theme parks or tourist places will tend to place adverts running up to the summer months. You can search for a part time job on this website too!

How old do I have to be to baby-sit?

There is no lower age limit set however it is recommended by the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents that no-one under 16 looks after a baby.

Learning courses can help you meet other people, give you confidence in your abilities and prepare you for work later when you are readyIf you have a child or children you do not need to give up on your learning.

• Care to Learn can help pay for your childcare costs while you learn, if you're under 20
• There is all sorts of help out there to give you that bit extra support, for example with the transport costs or living costs. If you go to Directgov you can read all about them
• Visit the Making Preparations page for the latest information.

Enterprise encourages you to be creative in using what you have learnt about business and finance. You have to come up with ideas and think for yourself; use your initiative. It's about new approaches to providing people with the things that they need or did not realise that they need, eg mobile phones and basing a business around this.

Young Enterprise is the UK's leading business and enterprise education charity. It runs programmes, based on Learning by Doing, which bring volunteers from business into schools and colleges. Some of the programmes support students to work together to run their own real company. Others use games, hands on activities and role play to develop skills and capabilities for business and enterprise.

If you are thinking of setting up your own business you will find it helpful to look at the Business Link website where you will find over 200 new videos and learning resources as well as all the other information and support that you might need. 

31 January 2012 - Local support - a new Enterprise Partnership providing useful services and information to businesses in the region, as well as providing resources to help you set up your business. 

You can visit the Prince's Trust website where you will find some success stories to inspire you.

Another site that you could find useful is Smarta, which provides support for small businesses.

If you would like information on starting and developing your own business visit Shell LiveWIRE.

28 November - Entrepreneurship in Yorkshire Now might not seem the best time to be starting a new business but genuine entrepreneurs will tell you otherwise as economic conditions are providing new opportunities. However, as Business Desk guide, produced in association with Barclays Wealth and Deloitte, shows good advice is essential throughout the lifecycle of an entrepreneur. This is the document - it is written for adults so you may need some assistance to be able to see how what it says can apply to your venture.

23 January 2012 - Prime minister announces plans to make empty government offices available to small businesses to start up and grow. 'Business in You' is a major new campaign aimed at inspiring people to start or grow their own businesses and helping small businesses and entrepreneurs to understand the array of information and help available from the Government and private sector. This article gives you some very useful information and links.

How to find jobs from the Jobcentre on the Direct.gov website

You can see all the Job Centre Plus vacancies on the Directgov website -  or put Directgov into your search engine and choose search for jobs, click on the "Find a Job Now" green arrow.

You can look for the latest jobs, find volunteer opportunities, get help with your searches and save your searches. There is lots of help and you should find it easy to use.

Note the following points;

• To make is easier you should use the search boxes to ‘refine' your search
• If you have a job seeker's agreement you will have been given SOC codes for 3 job types - you can search for these jobs with the codes and only those jobs will come up within a radius of 15 miles from where you live if you have put a post code (you can change the distance with the drop down box).
• If you want to see all the jobs in an area only put the post code in and again all within 15 miles will come up. There are other boxes which you can choose from eg full time but if you are open to a range of options you can leave these blank
• Click on the Search Button
• TOP TIP: re-order your results by "Date Posted" this will show you the most recent jobs first!

This explains how to search for jobs

All the vacancies are open to anyone over the age of 16 unless they involve work which younger people cannot do. If this is the case, there will be a statement on the vacancy which says ‘The employer has claimed an exception under the Equality Act 2010' - these include jobs like bar work.

More sites:

• For information on Civil Service job vacancies visit this site.
• For a wide range of public sector vacancies: local council, fire and police services, Civil Service, probation service, charities and more visit Jobsgopublic.
• For information on working for North Yorkshire County Council visit One Place.
• For information on jobs in councils in the north go to this site. For NHS job vacancies nation-wide visit this site.
• If you would like to look at a variety of commercial recruitment sites go to the Links page on Get Connected Now.

All employers have a responsibility to make sure that their employees' health and safety is protected at work. This means that you should expect thorough training that shows you the right way to do your job safely.

Remember you also have health and safety responsibilities as an employee. These include:

• Making sure you use the proper methods to carry out tasks, like lifting heavy boxes or using sharp knives
• Not putting anyone else at risk of injury
• Making sure you're not wearing any clothing or jewellery that is unsuitable for the work you're doing
• Reporting any accidents or injuries to your manager.

Click here to see pages which will guide you through the rights that you have, and the situations in which they apply.

Yes, you do, if you work for a company that employs 250 or more employees.

From 6 April 2010 if you are an employee and you work in an organisation with 250 or more employees you have the statutory (legal) right to request time for study or training. This right is known as 'time to train'.

If you qualify for the right and want to make a request, you should follow the steps explained in the articles in the DirectGov website.

You may be thinking of taking a gap year in which case visit the official gap year website.

For more general information on work and careers go to Directgov.

Women and Manual Trades is the national organisation for tradeswomen and women training in the trades click here to find out more.

The Young Workers website is aimed at young people who are taking part in Work Experience programmes or who are starting work for the first time. Here you will find all kinds of information about health and safety in the workplace, including your responsibilities at work, facts and figures about risks and injuries at work, and guidance and checklists to help you through your first few days at work.

If you lose your job, cannot find work, need help with writing your CV or filling in application forms, or you think you are in the wrong job and want advice, go to your nearest Youth Support Service centre where you will find professional staff to help you to sort things out.

To find out about things to do in your area and across North Yorkshire, gimi is the site to visit. If you live in York then you can find out lots of information at YorOK.