Evening job required by 14 (nearly 15) year old lad

[wmrcomputers]

My son is coming up to 15 and is desperate to start earning some pocket money and saving for his first moped at 16 (providing laws don't change)

The biggest problem is that it's mostly weekend work, and due to me & ex wife having alternate weekends this is impossible.

He's looking for anything he can do for an hour or two in the evenings (mon to thurs), or evn just once a week. He'll deliver papers, wash cars or anything else he can legally do at his age.

Any suggestions?

 

[Lunar Scorpion]

Look in the job sections of the local papers, they're quite often advertising for people to deliver them. Try shops and places like that, some open a bit later. Most (I'm guessing) probably wouldn't employ anyone under 16, but on the other hand there's no minimum wage so they could pay him as little as they liked.

There are strict limits to the hours children and young people under school leaving age (see under heading General rules on employment) are allowed to work. You must not work:-

* during school hours on any school day
* for more than two hours on any school day or for more than 12 hours in any week in which you are required to go to school
* for more than two hours on a Sunday
* for more than eight hours (five hours if you are under 15) on any day which is not a school day or a Sunday
* before 7am or after 7pm
* for more than 35 hours (25 if you are under the age of 15) in any week in which you are not required to go to school
* for more than four hours in any day without a break of one hour
* at any time, if during the 12 months beginning 1 January, working means that you have not had two uninterrupted weeks of holiday from school.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/employment/young_people_and_employment.htm

 

[AndyST17]

Any suggestions?

Get some leaflets printed about your computer service and chuck him 2p per leaflet he posts around Stafford , for 5000 he would earn £100, nice start.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Any suggestions?

Get some leaflets printed about your computer service and chuck him 2p per leaflet he posts around Stafford , for 5000 he would earn £100, nice start.

At my prices i'd have to do 4 or 5 repairs to earn that.. he's got no hope lol. Why d'ya think i'm asking on here!

 

[shoes]

When I was that age (which isn't all that long ago) I used to visit my grand parents in Derrington every weekend, or at least three a month. Usually I'd take out 3 or 4 hours and just wonder round the houses asking (the predominantly retired) people whether they needed their windows washing or the law mowing or their car cleaning etc. for say £3/job. Admitadly I did have a slight advantage at first which is that Derrington has a population of around 7 and they all knew my grandad so as soon as I mentioned his name I got the job, however if your son can get a couple of takers then word of mouth spreads suprisingly quickly.

Does he have a push bike? Derrington is only 20 minutes away and there are loads of surrounding villages well within cycling distance. It might be worth a try. Unfortunately as LS mentioned the wages he will get are unregulated so as long as he's not expecting too much too soon he will be fine.

 

[db]

Unfortunately as LS mentioned the wages he will get are unregulated so as long as he's not expecting too much too soon he will be fine.

it wouldn't surprise me if, in the not too distant future, our tireless and incessant overlords saw fit to clamp down on and tightly regulate things like this lol.. you'd need a "bob a job" licence or something

i think lunar's paperboy idea is definitely a good starting point.. surely a paper round is a rite of passage for any boy wanting his first wage?

 

[shoes]

Its a good point, its steady too rather than my suggestion which will obviously be a lot more ad-hoc.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Paper rounds seem to be much harder to get hold of than years ago. They have waiting lists of people wanting a job now.

I think he'll definately have to consider the "odd jobs" route at some point soon. I give him whatever odd jobs I can afford to, but like shoes mentioned - having something "steady" is a factor that would be nicer for him.

 

[shoes]

Also what about seasonal work such as fruit picking. There used to be a strawberry plantation along the A518 west out of the town, I cannot remember exactly where but I did a couple of weeks there about 10 years ago, crap pay (to be expected) but as many strawberries as you can eat, freshest strawberries he'll ever taste!

Another long shot would be to try kennels, stables etc. My cousin in surrey is 12 and currently does alternate weekends at her local stables and receives the princely sum of £30 a day, which of course is cash and not subject to any tax due to his age. Even at alternate weekends he'd be able to earn enough for a moped, insruance and CBT in 12 months or less. Quite literally a 'shit' job though lol

 

[tek-monkey]

He'll never get a job up at Busbys strawberry farm, he's english!

 

[ToriRat]

baby sitting, or does he have enough dealing with your own brood?

 

[Rikki]

He'll never get a job up at Busbys strawberry farm, he's english!

Yup your right there. We do the gas checks on the caravans it's like being in another country.

 

[Gramaisc]

He'll never get a job up at Busbys strawberry farm, he's english!

I'll teach him rudimentary Czech - for a steady supply of strawberries.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Some good thoughts guys, keep 'em coming.

I might suggest he tries approaching some local farms etc about anything he might help with.
As for the babysitting - yup he would want to get away from little ones for an hour or two. lol

 

[Gramaisc]

Shoes' car-wash idea might well be the one most worth pursuing. He could, perhaps, build up a steady regular round, and there has been a thread on here lamenting the passing of the Princess Royal car-wash, so, presumably, there's a demand. The timing could be made to suit his requirements. There's people out there having their wheelie-buns washed and so they must want their cars doing, surely. He could even rig up a cleaning set-up on a pushbike if the distances require it.

 

[wmrcomputers]

Might have a try at that. I could always get him some leaflets done and he could try the not so pushy approach of letting people choose to ring him. Or do you think the direct "knock the door with a bucket in hand" approach would work better for him??

 

[Gramaisc]

There's no reason not to do both marketing approaches and see what happens. And don't get fixated on one thing - do what you are able to that someone will pay for. Escalate from the original scheme - clean caravans, greenhouses, etc. When we had the last census you were supposed to give an idea of what your job involved and so I put down what I had done that week - it looked so ridiculous that I reckon they put it straight in the bin.

One 'negative' thing to consider is the possibility of damaging other peoples' cars, and what reaction they might have.

 

[basil]

small outlay, train as footy ref, pay between £15-£20 per game a bit less for the small-sided junior games, They are much in demand 8 months a year....

 

[wmrcomputers]

There's no reason not to do both marketing approaches and see what happens. And don't get fixated on one thing - do what you are able to that someone will pay for. Escalate from the original scheme - clean caravans, greenhouses, etc. When we had the last census you were supposed to give an idea of what your job involved and so I put down what I had done that week - it looked so ridiculous that I reckon they put it straight in the bin.

One 'negative' thing to consider is the possibility of damaging other peoples' cars, and what reaction they might have.

Just been talking about the option of a lawn cutting service with him. Obviously i'd go with him and it would just be in our local area using my petrol mower. I did it as a kid, and i'd rather people moan that he's mowed down a daffodil than claim he's put a scratch in their already scratched car!
I used to go around with my dad's suffolk colt when i was his age and I did quite well. No doubt there's legal implications about youngsters with petrol driven machinery, but I suppose if I'm present it shouldn't cause any issues.

 

[Gramaisc]

Invent a bizarre alternative health therapy. Stacks of dosh available.