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Many students, both at school and when attending college and university, look for work experience with a business. This gives them insight into working life and helps them think about their career options. As an employer, you may have educational institutions, Jobcentre Plus, or young persons themselves requesting work experience from you. Taking on young people to give them work experience placements in the workplace can create opportunities for your business to access a broader range of talent. It is, however, vital that you understand work experience placements in employment. You need to know about the rights of those who carry out work experience placement with you and your responsibilities when they are working in your business.
This article will explain the key points you should know about work experience in England.
What is Work Experience?
A person engages with a business to obtain work experience for a variety of reasons. This includes:
- learning about your work as it occurs;
- understanding the working environment;
- watching and shadowing those in your workplace; and
- helping with day-to-day tasks and duties of your staff.
Spending a limited time with your organisation means that the work experience is temporary, so time-limited placements can vary, but two weeks is the average length. Those on work experience placements are usually of mandatory school age but may be college or university students.
Health and Safety Implications of Work Experience Placements
If you are a business hosting young people through a work experience placement, you need to be aware of the legal implications of doing so. Predominately, you should be aware of your health and safety concerns obligations. Your duty as an employer is to ensure that your staff are healthy and safe as far as is reasonably practicable. You owe this responsibility to individuals engaging with your business for work experience.
Additionally, as work experience placements usually involve those under 18 years of age, there are further considerations you should take into account. You must ensure that any young person under the age of 18 working for you is not exposed to certain risks that might arise because:
- they do not have sufficient experience with the task at hand;
- they fail to appreciate the risks of their work; or
- they lack the maturity for certain tasks.
This means that you must think about, for example:
- how you lay out your workplace;
- the amount of health and safety training you offer them;
- how you organise your work processes; and
- the way they use your work equipment.
If you obtained your employers’ liability insurance policy from a member of the Association of British Insurers, you must obtain coverage for work placements. This may require an additional item of coverage.
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Paying Work Experience Placements
If you are taking on work experience placements with young people of school age, you do not usually need to pay them for their work. However, where they are not of school age, it will depend on their status in your business in terms of whether they are a worker or an employee in relation to the National Minimum Wage (NMW). For example, a person working as an intern is likely to be a graduate or undergraduate; therefore, if they are a worker or employee, they may be entitled to the National Minimum Wage.
Other Key Points for Employers
There are key points you need to be aware of when taking on a work experience placement. These are as follows:
- Your staff are not required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check for work experience placements for persons aged 16-17, and they only need them for those under 16 years of age where their job role requires them to look after the work experience person.
- You need to consider how you will manage and support your work experience placements, such as by providing an induction, what tasks they will do and dealing with any problems that occur.
- It is crucial to have systems in place that support a fulfilling work experience placement, such as mentoring programs or assigning the young worker with a buddy.
Key Takeaways
If you decide to offer young persons work experience placements in your business, there are some key points you should note. You must consider the potential risks due to their age and may need to carry out a risk assessment. You also need to consider if your liability insurance covers your work experience placements and whether any staff need a DBS check.
If you need help understanding your employer obligations regarding work experience in England, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Work experience is when a person, usually of school age, temporarily spends time learning in your business to get a feel for what it is like to be in the workforce.
As an employer in England, you do not usually need to pay for a work experience placement where the worker is of school age. However, you must exercise caution if they are older and potentially an intern.
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