Short messages on Employment and jobs from Respect Yourself, the guidance site for young people to help make good decisions in life.
When you pay part of your salary into a workplace pension, your employer and the government will contribute too. Each employer contributes a different amount, and the Government gives tax relief on your lower salary, where the saving on your income tax is paid into the pension. This is known as “salary sacrifice”.
During school holidays 13 to 14 year olds may work a maximum of 25 hours per week. This includes a maximum of five hours on weekdays and Saturdays, and a maximum of two hours on Sunday.
If your employer has selected you for redundancy you must be given a notice period before your employment ends unless your employment contract says your employer can pay you for what you would have received during the notice period.
During school holidays 15 to 16 year olds may work a maximum of 35 hours per week. This includes a maximum of eight hours on weekdays and Saturdays, and a maximum of two hours on Sunday.
Your employer should use a fair and objective way of selecting people to make redundant. This means that it should be based on some evidence, rather than your employer just deciding who they want to give notice to.
Although qualifications cannot guarantee you a job, people with the right skills and qualifications have a better chance of finding a job with good prospects and more money. They may also have more job security.
If you want to become self-employed, research the market to see if your product or service would sell well before you invest money in it. You can get grants to help you start up.
If someone (such as your teacher or boss) is talking and you switch off, that is the time to ask questions.
If you do the minimum of effort required to get the basic job done for a project – either at work, home or school – you’ll get the minimum returns and rewards. Putting in more effort gets much greater rewards.
A truly effective manager sets up those around them to succeed. Good managers empower their employees to do well by giving opportunities to excel.