To expect more than £4.50/h for a 15 year old?

[Hedgehogsaremything]

My son is working in a local garden centre for the pre-Christmas season - netting Christmas trees, carrying them to cars and doing general tasks in their outside yard. It's physically demanding but he's tall and pretty strong for his age.

He was told at the end of his first shift that he would be getting £4.50/hour.

When I was 15 in 19-bloody-88 I was on £3 / hour... working in a pub. That was 35 years ago!!?!

AIBU to expect him to be earning a little more than that?

I agree. Not sure who would make a law that under 16s are fine to deliver papers alone in the early hours of the morning in the dark but can't waitress in a cafe or carry Christmas Trees to cars.

You're right, it's good experience. Also, he got a tip yesterday and was absolutely delighted!

Good for him getting a job. As its only seasonal I'd encourage him to stick with it and then see if he can get a job pot washing or waiting tables after Christmas. The money still won't be great at his age but once he hits 16 he can move on again. My 16 year old gets £10.42 an hour plus tips!

Yes they are getting a good deal 🙄. Dd aged 15 did her first shift in a boutique £8 per hour but zero hour type arrangement so she’s only there if they are busy. I think the experience is good for them.

The wages in this country are appealing. My brother 8 years ago earned £3.50 age 15. I'm sure that was illegal though.

If you think about it, a newly qualified doctor gets £14/hour. So ... Really, for a 15 yo in comparison I guess that's right.

Shouldn't be a race to the bottom but that's the way the government views us all.

On the plus side thst sounds like a lovely job. No stress and working with happy festive customers, all to the scent of pine needles.

Hmmm but you are dealing with the general public so not necessarily! Both my teens have hair raising tales of dreadful behaviour from customers in “nice” places! Usually one particular demographic- though most people are nice

The only advice I would give is that if your children have any particular skills, particularly in music, then this low rate can be avoided. As an example, our church is currently offering £70 a week for an organist and will happily take on a youngster in the role (1 hour service, 1 hour practice per week.). Both my sons did this role (in succession) from the age of about 14. They were reasonable pianists, they learned the organ 'on the job'.
And yes - I got paperwork from our local council to authorise the working arrangement.

Hmm, it's pretty grubby work and freezing cold yesterday obvs. But he's v glad to be earning and they gave him a mince pie!

https://childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/child-employment/#:~:text=The%20general%20rule%20is%20that,or%20interfere%20with%20their%20education.

Lots of jobs you can do at 14 or 15

His main 'skill' is that he's a strong swimmer. I have wondered whether to push him towards lifeguarding at our local pool.

@Disco50 it's not illegal at all. There are certain restrictions to protect the child from unscrupulous employers but you can work from 13/14 onwards.

We pay our younger staff more than that BUT it's entirely up to the employer.

Good on him for getting out and getting himself a job. If he shows his worth to the business, hopefully he'll be rewarded with a permanent position with a better wage.

It'll look good on his CV and stand him in good stead for finding another job when he's 16 (this can be tough nowadays in many areas). Reality is 15 year olds won't have previous work experience, the only plus of someone hiring one is that they can pay less- sounds harsh and whether its morally fair is a different question; but otherwise employers would invariably employ someone with more experience if they had to pay the same so it gives people with none a chance. If its doing Christmas tree is it just a seasonal job? In which case I'd encourage him to see it through as an investment in finding something else, just because they're a small company doesn't mean they won't give him a reference!

I was going to add sports skills too (although no personal experience). A neighbour's son used to do lifeguarding at our local baths.

You can't be a lifeguard until you're 16, but they pay for the qualification and he will have a head start on his CV compared to other applicants if he sticks this out for a bit.

It’s very low but then what did you expect given his age? There’s no laws in place for minimum wage for u16s. They were hardly going to put him on £10 an hour.

We know 16 yo there that are on £6.50 /h so I (wrongly) assumed it wouldn't be much less when he's 8 months younger and doing the same work....

Also, I've told him that there's a lesson to learn in him not agreeing his wage rate before he started.

Why, would he have turned the job down if he had know ? is that the main focus?

For me I would be pushing the positives of the job here. It's good experience for him out in the workplace, meeting customers and colleagues and learning how to navigate those relationships. It's fab for his CV going forward and he is earning some money.

Yes the rate of pay is crap but tbh for a 15 year old with no experience he is getting so much more from this job than the financial aspect.

I would be trying to teach him that, rather than moaning about the wage

How the heck do you work hat out ?

It is a bit crap isn't it. Even the wage for 16 to 18 is crap. My 16 year old works in retail and it is pretty disheartening when he works a 5 hour shift to get less than £30. But they need to understand that you have to start somewhere and the only way to increase wages is to work and learn and gain experience.

Yes they do. DS 14 does one and there are 3 others who also do rounds from the same shop. He mostly delivers to older people. He gets £20 per week for what is probably about 4 hours work in total.

Round here you pay for your own life guarding course, it's around £300. But there is then a good choice of leisure centres and private schools where you can get work at £10-11 an hour.

I imagine if it's Christmas trees, it's just a temp job so worth sucking it up for the experience - he won't be 15 forever.

Ah thats a shame. The council pay here so wrongly assumed others did.

No, he would have done it anyway, because he wants to earn some cash. And as you say he's learning a lot more than just earning.

Tight bastards