Can 12 year old do work experience?

[salsadipp]

Hi all hope you are well. I can't seem to find any advice online so wondered if anyone could help here. I have a 12 year old son who I have been home schooling long before covid. He is expressing to me that he really wants to come to work with me for work experience. I was wondering if a 12 year old can do a few days work experience? I know you have to be 13 to legally work but is work experience allowed? X

I would think it would be down to an employers insurance. A lot of places say no to under 16’s.

Id be surprised if your employer can allow this anyway at the moment.

my work don't take anyone under 16 due to insurance.

Brill thank you 👍🏼

In order to be covered on most employers insurances and be exempt from the laws on working hours and places for young people working work experience has to be organised by a school or college or the Local Education Authority and can only take place in Years 10 & 11.

13 year olds can work but only in a limited number of places and for very limited hours.

A way to get around this is you pay for the 12 yr old to have an 'experience' which happens to also give them taste of WE. We did this for DD (pony care). The actual amount can be peppercorn. Also, kids can work for relatives as WE (we know a 12 yr old worked in the family take-away).

Farmers are pretty flexible if someone wants to "help" to manage small holdings or livestock.

Unless you work alone I doubt any employer would allow this right now. Most places that are open are working on minimal staff to allow for social distancing.

Ds is almost 18, there were lots of meet up events (pre-covid) that were hosted for IT/coding stuff and the buildings insurance doesn't cover under 18s so he couldn't attend several of them.

Basically no children on the premises. It could fall under that I am afraid.

@lljkk

A way to get around this is you pay for the 12 yr old to have an 'experience' which happens to also give them taste of WE. We did this for DD (pony care). The actual amount can be peppercorn. Also, kids can work for relatives as WE (we know a 12 yr old worked in the family take-away).

Farmers are pretty flexible if someone wants to "help" to manage small holdings or livestock.

That's not actually legally correct. The only work a child can do without an employment licence, even for their own family is

Children doing odd jobs around the house or for neighbours.
Babysitting
Work experience organised by your child's school.

"Any employment of a school aged child in a "trade or occupation carried on for profit" is illegal without a licence. This includes parents employing their own children in their business, even if they are not paid. Examples of work a child could be licenced for:

Paper rounds
Shop work
Cleaning
Work on farms
Clerical/office work
Leaflet delivery
Waiting at tables

Some work cannot be licensed at all and cannot be legally done by school-age children, including any work in:

Factories
Building site
Serving alcohol
Milk deliveries
Sorting refuse
Working with food in commercial kitchens (including chip shops and take-away establishments).

This is not the complete list.

My dcs secondary school have stopped work experience in year 10 because they can't get enough employers to take under 16s due to insurance.
At the moment due to covid rules it's also very difficult my dc at college has to do several weeks per year work experience but college have said its not possible at the moment.
Could you look at doing some volunteering and dc working alongside you our local leisure centre allows this.

I cannot see how volunteering gets the organiser off the hook regarding insurance. What would happen if the child was injured? Or indeed injured someone else through negligence? There’s no insurance. It’s not acceptable.