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16 and working

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curlyperm11 | 18:58 Sun 03rd May 2009 | Jobs
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please advise me if any of you knowledgeable people can, i need advice in a hurry.
my daughter - 16 has been working in the garden centre cafe for the last 3 months, normally just sundays 11 - 5 gets paid through direct debit and pays tax so its all legal and above board, during the half term she worked about an extra 7 or 8 days, and the odd sauturday too, now the problem is.... she came home this afternoon in tears cos the manager said he isnt sure she is able to work, somethiing to do with her age and the fact that she is still at school?? Now (and this bit might matter) although she is 16 (feb) she is in year 10 at school and should be in year 11, but we lived in spain so i decided to to keep her back a year to catch up? i know its complicated but i have to phone the manager tomorrow so he can explain - but i just dont know my/her rights or is he just wanting to get rid - although shes a damn hard worker, have tried the gov.uk sites but it is very complex - please try and shed some light asap - many many thanks in advance xx
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I'm surprised she's earning enough to pay tax.
Question Author
look - no offence but can anyone with smart ars* answers just dont bother, the kids working hard (lot harder than some adults) so just advice that was REQUESTED please!!
I don't think the above answer was a smart ars* answer, I would also be surprised if she earned enough to pay tax.

Anyway, as she is working whilst still at school, then by law she is not allowed to work more than 2 hours on a Sunday, so her manager is right - see this and pay particular attention to the last paragraph:

Working hours

There are rules that regulate what times of the day you can work and for how long. These are different depending on your age.

14 year olds
There are a lot of rules that control working hours of children, but the basic ones are:

* during term time, you can only work for two hours on weekdays and Sundays
* during term time, you can only work for five hours on Saturdays
* during a school holiday, you can work for up to five hours on a week day or a Saturday
* during a school holiday, you can't work for more than two hours on a Sunday
* you cannot work before 7.00 am or after 7.00 pm on any day

15 and 16 year olds
If you're 15 or 16 and are working while you're still at school, your rights are almost identical to those of 14 year olds. However, you are allowed to work for up to eight hours on Saturdays or during the school holidays.
Question Author
thank you for that x you helped/advised me and THAT was what i needed thank you for that
As an employer myself, and I have girls aged 14 and 15 working for me rules are very strict, to protect the child really and make sure they continue with their education and are not exploited.However I am concerned to hear she was paying tax though.She should not have been workign enough hours to pay tax.Maybe that is how they have realised, the accountant shoul dhave picked up on it.Hope they can switch her hours to a Sat fro you, would solve the issue perhaps
It may be worth just double checking that the rules applicable to a 14 or 15 year old schoolchild still apply in the same way to a 16 year old. Your daughter may be entitled to work longer hours due to her age (on a Sunday as well as a Saturday).
Also re the tax, it may be that the extra hours she worked over the half term holiday put her into a taxable bracket, which is why she has paid tax. I expect if her hours again reduce, she would either get a tax refund or it would return to nil tax due.
Hope this has helped further, it is worth double checking with either your daughters school or the local education authority who should have issued the work permit she needs. (hopefully her employers have got this for her!)
Question Author
Thanks sue - have been in touch with local council and got a result - she can do saturdays until the last friday in june when she becomes no longer in compulsory education it then becomes volunary and she needs no permit and can do sundays and as many hours as she likes (and i havent told her this ) but she can even decide not to go to school any longer,so - the permit is in the post enroute to me and have been to see the bloke and he said she can have her job back wooo hooo result!! BIG thank you to all who tried to help!!! means a lot x

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