Equality and Human Rights Commission

• Q: Am I old enough to have a job?
• Q: How many hours a week am I legally allowed to work?
• Q: I'm in my first job and discovered that employees who are older than me are getting paid more. Young people seem to have to do all the rotten jobs too! Can I do something about this?
• Q: What rights do we have to equal pay?
  • National Minimum Wage
  • Right to Equal Pay between the sexes
• Q: Can my employer treat my worse than others because of my age?

Q: Am I old enough to have a job?

A: Once you reach the age of 13, you can 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.

These restrictions last until you become 16 and have left school, when you become classed as a young worker. This means that you'll have more choice in the jobs you can do.

If you are 18 or over, you get the same work rights as adults.

Find out more at direct.gov.uk.

Q: How many hours a week am I legally allowed to work?

In general, workers aged 18 and over are entitled to:

• work a maximum 48-hour average week
• work no more than six days out of every seven, or 12 out of every 14
• take a 20-minute break if they work more than six hours at a stretch
• take 5.6 weeks' holiday a year

Workers aged 16 and 17 are entitled to:

• work a maximum 40 hours a week
• work no more than eight hours a day
• take at least 30 minutes' break if they work more than four-and-a-half hours at a stretch
• have 12 hours' rest between working days
• take two days off every week - these two days' rest should be taken together with no working in between them.
• take 5.6 weeks' holiday a year

Q: I'm in my first job and discovered that employees who are older than me are getting paid more. Young people seem to have to do all the rotten jobs too! Can I do something about this?

A: Yes! There are regulations for the workplace that prohibit discrimination on the grounds of a person's age. They are known as the Employment (Age) Equality regulations 2006.

There are two reasons why older colleagues may be being paid more than you, firstly their length of service and secondly due to the National Minimum Wage. However, both of these issues are not likely to be covered by the Age regulations because they are what's termed as 'exempt'.

Length of service

What do the age regulations say about benefits related to length of service?

Well, your employer may provide staff incentives which are based on how long you have worked for the organisation. These are often referred to as length of service benefits. For example, you may find at work that you are only entitled to a company car after you have completed 4 years of service.

The question is, is this against the law if it seems that your age is stopping you from receiving extra benefits that only older, more experienced colleagues can get?

The answer is that under the current age regulations, this type of treatment isn't against the law, provided the other member of staff you are comparing yourself with has no more than 5 years service with your employer.

The reasoning behind this exemption is to allow employers to take steps to ensure that they retain staff within the first five years of service. If an employer has invested large sums of money in training new staff then they should be able to offer incentives to reward loyalty, or otherwise face the risk of losing employees to rival competitors.

If you are aware of another employee who has over 5 years' service and is continuing to receive additional benefits based on that, then the employer will need to justify why that is happening.

Example:

Jason has 4 years experience and as a result, he is entitled to one weeks' full sick pay for every year of his service. Therefore, as he has worked at the company for 4 years, he is entitled to 4 weeks' sick pay.

You have worked there for 3 years so you are entitled to 3 weeks sick pay. As long as this is set out in the company benefit guidelines, this is fine because you both fall within the 5 year exemption.

Let's say that you have been working for the company for 6 years doing exactly the same job as your colleague Jason . One day, while talking in the canteen, you discover that Jason is entitled to 10 weeks sick pay because he has worked at the company for 10 years.

Remember that you have both now been working for the company for more than 5 years therefore the 5 year exemption will no longer apply.

The employer will now need to justify why your colleague Jason is entitled to more paid sick leave than you. It could still be argued by the employer that this is an incentive to retain loyal staff. However, this will now need to be justified by the company otherwise it could be regarded as what's known as indirect discrimination because of your age because an older employee is receiving better benefits than you are.

Q: What rights do we have to equal pay?

A: When you think about equality and pay, you might think that everyone should be paid equally depending on the type of work that they do. This certainly should be the case if you're looking at pay levels between young men and women as we will see under the section Right to Equal pay regardless of your sex below. However, there are also specific regulations that apply to young people that mean you should be entitled to a minimum level of pay - but the actual amount depends on your age.

National Minimum Wage

The 'National Minimum Wage' is a law to make sure that you receive at least a standard minimum amount of pay per hour. This is partly to stop some employers taking advantage of people, including young people, and not paying you enough to do your job. The minimum wages are related to age group and applies to people aged 18 or below, up to 22 years of age, and above the age of 22.

This type of treatment is exempt from the Employment (Age) regulations 2006, which means it's one of the rare instances where it is acceptable to pay you a certain amount depending on your age rather than being paid equally compared with another person who is doing the same type of work.  So, your employer is likely to pay you and younger and older colleagues different rates per hour depending on your age. They may have to do this so they don't break the law.

The current pay rates (2008) which are reviewed every October, are set out below:

• £3.53 per hour for all workers under the age of 18 who are no longer of compulsory school age
• A development rate of £4.77 per hour for workers aged between 18-21
• £5.73 per hour for workers aged 22 and older

If you have any questions about the National Minimum Wage, you can contact the ACAS Helpline on 08457 47 47 47. Lines are open from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday. For more information about the national Minimum Wage visit DirectGov.

Right to Equal Pay between the sexes

Differences in pay may not always be down to your age. What if you are female and being paid less than a male member of staff to do the same type of work?

Well this too could be discrimination but this time because of your sex.

Women and men of all ages should be paid the same amount for doing the same kind of work, sometimes referred to as 'like work' so if you are not and the reason for this has nothing to do with the National Minimum Wage (NMW), then it could be poor treatment on account of your gender. This is likely to be unlawful under the Equal Pay Act.

For example:

You are a young woman working during the holidays alongside a number of male friends from school at a garden centre. You all do exactly the same job. You find out that your male friends are being paid £1.50 an hour more. You raise this with the manager who says that the boys are expected to lift some of the heavier pots and shrubs so they are paid more accordingly.

You know full well that each of you do the same type of work and when there is any heavy lifting involved you have all been told to ask another employee to help rather than risk injuring your back. There is no basis of truth in what the manager is saying. You all do the same type of work, therefore you should be paid the same.

For more information about equal pay please see our Equal Pay section.

Q: Can my employer treat my worse than others because of my age?

A: To give an example, let's say that your employer is always making remarks about you in front of your work colleagues for example, saying you are 'wet behind the ears'.

If the effect of these remarks makes you feel uncomfortable or creates an intimidating or hostile environment for you, then this is likely to amount to what is termed 'harassment' on the grounds of your age. This is because the remarks are aimed at what the employer may incorrectly believe to be naivety or youthful lack of worldly experience attributed to your age.

Unfair treatment in employment because of your age is unlawful under the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006.

For more information on age discrimination please see the Age section.

See also questions about faith for Sunday working rules.

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