Jobs for a 15 year-old

[covewove71]

What are the rules regarding a 15 year-old doing paid work? How many hours can they do? Can they only do certain types of jobs?

Thanks

New full-time stepmum to a teenager

[dementedpixie]

www.gov.uk/child-employment/minimum-ages-children-can-work

[Sparklingbrook]

When will they be 16? Round here it's pretty much babysitting and paper rounds til then.

[covewove71]

Thanks for the link dementedpixie. So it looks like 2 hours on a school day and 8 hours on a Saturday. Then 35 hours during school holidays - that seems like a lot! Also the local council may limit what type of work they can do.

He has only just turned 15 Sparklingbrook so a while to wait until he is 16.

Does anyone else know children who have jobs other than babysitting and paper rounds at 15?

Thanks all :)

[Icouldbeknitting]

I know a 15 year old who has just started a job serving in a cafe. She only works Saturdays and can't do anything involving food prep. She's 16 in a few months if that makes a difference.

[OneMagnumisneverenough]

Whether or not 15 year olds get employment depends to some extent on where you live tbh. I have young cousins who live in the countryside who have always been able to get paid work on farms/stables etc. but we live in a city and it's really difficult as most places want over 16s only unless they happen to be family businesses. There just doesn't seem to be any work around for the kids who want it. Even paper rounds are few and far between and are over such a wide distance that it's impossible for kids to get it done in time if they have a bit of travel to get to school. I have boys and they aren't really wanted for babysitting either.

[Sadik]

Lots of 15 y/os have paid work around here. The rules vary by council area - here children can be employed from age 13 with various rules pretty much as listed above.

We're in a tourist area, young teens I can think of who have jobs are mainly serving and clearing tables in cafes, shelf stacking in shops etc. I suspect a lot of them are related to the business owner, though I know some who definitely aren't. In those cases I think they're employed because they're cheap & very flexible to employ tbh. There's definitely demand for babysitting here, and boys seem to be just as popular as girls, the ones that advertise often have an 'extra' offer like first aid skills, references from Cadets, that sort of thing

[Sadik]

I've also known 15 y/os do a bit of labouring, but I bet that wasn't legit!

[GuiltyPleasure]

DD is 15 & waitresses in a pub. She currently does 1 or 2 shifts per week. All her wages go through a proper payroll so she's working within the allowed hours for her age. Its minimum wage obviously but she often doubles her take home pay with tips.

[antimatter]

I thought you weren't alowed to work in the pub at the age of 15 because it sells alcohol.
Has the law changed recently?

[GuiltyPleasure]

She can take the orders as part of the restaurant work & deliver the alcoholic drinks, but someone else has to pour them. She couldn't actually get & serve alcohol herself.

[bigTillyMint]

My DD has been coaching her sport since she was 14. It is quite well paid.

If he is into footy, he could look at becoming a ref?

[sashh]

My younger cousin started work washing up in a pub on Sundays - quite country area so they did a lot of Sunday lunches.