What age do teenagers have to be to get Saturday jobs with big chain stores?

[Appletreeblossom123]

My understanding is that big chains will generally require someone to be at least 16 before employing them for a Saturday job. However, I'm not sure whether the requirement is to have started sixth form or simply for a teenager to have reached age 16. For me these two things were almost the same, but as my DS's birthday is in the Autumn he will turn 16 early in Year 11. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks.

Sorry, can't help but ds is 16 in October, so I would also be interested to know this.

The laws on employing children place certain restrictions on what they can do & what hours they can work until the last Friday in June of Year 11 regardless of when their birthday falls. (before that date employers have to obtain permission/a licence to employ someone).

Does anyone know what 14 year olds can do apart from babysit?

16. It's because of insurance and they need a national insurance number (which will usually arrive a few months before they turn 16.)

Sixth form is usually about the same hours-wise as year 11 anyway so it wouldn't make a difference from that point of view - he'd still only be able to work weekends anyway.

JustDance - paper rounds! I had one. Dog walking. Car washing, those kinds of odd jobs. Working for a family member as long as it's under a certain number of hours per week.

www.gov.uk/child-employment

This disagrees about the school year ruling. It just says they can't work full time until they have reached school leaving age. Part time work is allowed from 13 years but most businesses won't hire until 16 because it's much more hassle for them.

I thought it was as soon as they got their NI number, which is 3 months before their 16th birthday?

Bertie - your link is correct. If yo click on the hyperlink of "school leaving age' you will see that is the "last Friday in June if you’ll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays."

Children can work part time from the age of 13 as you state but there are restrictions on the type of work, the hours they can work & a permit from the council is needed. (See sections 4 & 5 of your link)

Thanks all for the replies. I find the Government website pretty unclear. Does anyone have a DC who managed to get a job with any of the big chains before school leaving age (ie last Friday in June of Year 11, assuming you're in England)?

Dd works for Crowne Plaza and had to be 16.

Morrisons, Tesco and Sainburys all said the same. Apparently WH Smith may take on from 14.

A big problem for some chains is the restriction that says children can only work for 2 hours on a Sunday.

I've recruited part time staff for Argos and Homebase

The preference was always for over 18s as it was better for age related sales and manual handling

In theory we took on from 16 but very rarely and they would have to be absolute standouts in interviews

Right it's a bit confusing I agree.

It looks like a permit might be needed if they haven't actually left school which might be a pain, although large employers of teenagers might already have one. Other than that the only relevant restriction for a Saturday job is no more than 8 hours per day, which is unlikely anyway.

Good thing to do would be to walk around town one Saturday and go into each shop and ask if they employ 16 year olds who are still in FT education for weekend jobs, or only sixth formers. If they say yes, hand them a CV and ask if they'll keep it on file if they don't have any current positions. If they say no, say thank you and mentally file them for summer holidays. He should do this alone BTW, not with you.

I worked for WHSmith in 2004 and had to be 16. My birthday was June though so I had no school overlap. I did have several friends who had Saturday jobs during that last year of school who'd had earlier birthdays, but it's possible the law has changed since then.

Interesting about age related sales. I was allowed to sell 18 rated DVDs aged 16 and solvents are 18 as well, no problem legally, presumably because the packaging is sealed (lighters are not though). I sold cigarettes too but I think the age limit was 16 then.

Any sale needs to be supervised by someone over the age of 18

So it means you can't have under 18s on a solo till or covering a bank of self service tills in the supermarket

I sold cigarettes in my weekend job at the corner shop when I was 14 -doesn't mean I should have been doing though

Any age related sale that is

Thanks all. Groovee, did the companies you mention just stipulate age 16 (which for my DS would be close to the start of Year 11) or 16 and over school leaving age (which would be last Friday in June of Year 11 regardless of when birthday falls)? (I appreciate if your DD has a summer birthday there may not have been much difference between the two.)

Isn't that just for alcohol? Perhaps the law has changed. But it would surprise me if it had since I was working more recently in a shop which sold 18 DVDs and games (games are confusing but if they are BBFC or PEGI rated over 12 they can't be sold under the age rating) and I do remember completing training on this but was not advised that employees under 18 had to be supervised while selling these. But perhaps the "supervision" requirement is loose.

In any case it would be silly to have a restriction on games and DVD sales since the person selling them can't access the material on the disc by selling it whereas alcohol is often sold in open containers.

The law covers alcohol, cigarettes, fireworks and lottery tickets

These can be sold by under 18s but need to be supervised sales

It's best practice that these rules are followed in relation to all age restricted sales including solvents, weapons and DVDs

Most big retailers will follow best practice

Ah fair enough.

Our company took on a 16 year old part timer after they performed brilliantly on work experience the year before. We had to wait for their actual 16th birthday although they had their NI number beforehand.

When DS was looking (he is now 18 and has worked 1 yr for McDonald's and 8 months for Morrisons part time whilst at college) the age limits were:-
McDonald's 16
Our local Morrisons 17 though you can collect the trollies at 16.
Tesco 16
Costco 18
Waitrose 16

I think some stores prefer kids to have finished their GCSEs, despite saying they employ from 16.

They just said 16. In Scotland our school age dates are different in that it runs March to Feb but Jan/Feb birthdays can go to school a year later. So Dd is one of the oldest in the year as she's January and went to school later. She gets £6.70 an hour which is very generous too.

The rule about June of year 11 is correct. DD was 16 for river island.

My son 15 has a job delivering free local trade directories. It's rather hard work, paid 15p per copy. But it gets him out of the house.
I had to sign a form to consent to this and return to the local county council.
DD 17 is a lifeguard at local swimming pool and is never short of work.
Pubs and locally owned restaurants will often take them at 14 for washing up and cleaning tables.
Sainsburys will take them at 16.