The Department for Education describes three patterns that work experience for 16-19 year old study programmes are expected to follow .
We anticipate that students will use workfinder for experiential and vocation reasons as they explore the paths that will be open to them when they complete their formal education.
The common principles of a high quality work experience placement are that it:
Ofsted state that work experience must be purposeful and planned. It should give young
people the opportunity to develop vocational and employability skills in real working Conditions.
Work experience should contribute to students’ overall development. For example, when considering outcomes for students, inspectors will explore how well they can develop their employability and vocational skills and personal effectiveness (e.g. attendance, attitudes, punctuality, and behaviour) in relation to their starting points while on work experience.
This is the current list of most frequently applied for roles offered by companies on work experience placements. It’s really up to the employer - we just want the young people to find out what it is like in a real workplace - so if you don’t like any of these roles, feel free to suggest other ones to us!
No. Much the same way that parental consent is not needed for Google or other apps, parental consent is not needed to use Workfinder.
The obligation to obtain parental consent in order to download an app from the app store is dependent on whether or not any information is being required from the person downloading. We do not require the user to disclose any information to us in order to use the search aspect of the services.
No. The requirement to obtain parental consent in order to transmit an application to an employer is dependant on the type of personal data being transmitted.
Where the data is used for any of the following, it is advised that parental/guardian consent is obtained:
In order to protect students from inadvertent discrimination, Workfiner does not transmit the applicant's name or personal data to the employer, nor do we use their details for any marketing activity, or to display pictures on any public website, and we do not collect information about the students’ families and friends.
Much the same way that Royal Mail does not have an obligation to read a letter between a young person and a CEO, and BT does not have the obligation to listen to the dialogue between a young person and a business employer, we also don’t have the obligation to monitor this transaction.
We collect the date of birth after the student has applied for work experience. The date of birth is then used to determine if the student needs parental consent before accepting the offer of a work placement.
This is related to the age at which a person has the legal capacity to enter into a contract under English Law: As such, the answer is as follows:
18 years old in England:
If the applicant is under 18, we ask them to share the job offer they have received with their parent or guardian for ‘signoff’.
Employers can offer Work Experience to any student using the app, but must be aware that any contract entered into between them and a student under the age of 18 in England and Wales (or under the age of 16 in Scotland) is voidable at the student's option. This means that the student can still enforce the contract against the employer, but the employer may not be able to enforce the contract against the student (for example, any confidentiality obligations agreed between you and the student could be unenforceable, so please manage these relationships more carefully).
This is related to the processing of personal data under English Law. As such, the answer is as follows:
If the applicant is over the age of 18: No
If the applicant is 16 or 17: No
If the applicant is under 16: Yes
After the user has clicked on the ‘apply icon’ Workfinder asks them for their date of birth so that we can let the employer know the age of the applicant in order to be able to make an ‘indicative offer’ subject to parental permission being gained by the student.
We then contact the student with the offer subject to parental permission (given their age) and seek the email address of the person the child needs permission from.
Note: the request for work experience does not contain any information from the student that would allow them to be identified.
Yes. If organisations already employ young people, risk assessments won’t need to be repeated for work experience students. Employers with fewer than 5 employees won’t need a written risk assessment. For more information, visit the Health and Safety Executive’s website and read the guidance on work experience here. http://www.hse.gov.uk/youngpeople/workexperience/index.htm
Provided the company holds employer’s liability insurance and the insurer is a member of the Association of British Insurers or Lloyds (the vast majority are) then it automatically includes young people on work experience and treats them as employees for the duration of their placement. The Health and Safety Executive advise that employers inform their insurer that they will have students on placements but they should be automatically covered.
There are very few work activities a young person cannot do due to health and safety law. However, it’s important to remember that the employer has the primary responsibility for the health and safety of the student and should be managing any significant risks. This can be done by explaining the risks and how they are controlled when inducting any individual undertaking work experience, checking that they understand what they have been told and know how to raise health and safety concerns.
The following guidelines from ABI reinforce this: https://www.abi.org.uk/~/media/Files/Documents/Publications/Public/Migrated/Liability/ABI%20guide%20to%20insurance%20and%20work%20experience.pdf
No, a separate risk assessment, specifically for work experience students, is not necessary as long as the existing assessment already considers the specific factors for young people. Furthermore, there is no requirement to re-assess the risks each time an employer takes on a new work experience student, provided the new student has no particular needs.
See this article by the Health and Safety Executive for more details: [external link].
If you are told otherwise, there is a Myth Buster Challenge Panel that is set up you can appeal to see this [external link] for how to contact them.
YES
We ask the employer making an offer to a student over our service to confirm that they have a Safeguarding policy currently operating in our terms and conditions and we provide links on our employer briefings to child protection policies operated by other employers who offer work experience placements. Some of the best advice can be found here:
Yes.
We work to the guidelines laid down by the Health and Safety Executive and the Department for Education. There are no restrictions relating to whether a child is over or under 16.
Provided the company holds employer’s liability insurance and the insurer is a member of the Association of British Insurers or Lloyds (the vast majority are) then it automatically includes young people on work experience and treats them as employees for the duration of their placement.
The Health and Safety Executive advises that employers inform their insurer that they will have students on placements but they should be automatically covered. Please see HSE advice: http://www.hse.gov.uk/youngpeople/workexperience/placeprovide.htm
The following guidelines from ABI reinforce this:
No:
There is no requirement to DBS check employees although some schools prefer to avoid students working with a sole trader. The responsibility is that of the applicant or the person giving permission to the student to accept the work placement on offer.
No. It is not a legal requirement, but if the student requires permission from you or the school in order to accept the placement, then you or the school may wish to conduct a workplace visit in order to convince yourself that it is safe and secure.
Our service allows both the young person and the employer to agree the times and dates of work experience placement.
The placement is up to you and whether or not it is convenient to you to host a student on a regular school day or at the weekend. The concept of ‘a Saturday Job’ has been around a long time and is transformative to students. Some schools encourage students to do work experience every other Friday in the afternoon. Others for the first couple of weeks in July. Parents often help their children find a work experience placement during half-term break or at Easter / Summer break.
The young person’s contact information is passed on to the employer after the young person accepts the offer of a work experience placement so that the employer can perform right to work checks that they are required by law to perform.
The offer of a work experience placement is subject to the student producing proof of age and proof of ability to work in the UK which the employer examines as part of the on-boarding procedure on the first day.
If an incident occurs during the work experience placement, please inform us (incident@workfinder.com) as soon as possible.
Yes:
The immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 does not distinguish between paid and unpaid work, therefore the applicant must satisfy these checks prior to starting work. We recommend you examine the documents proving ‘right to work’ as part of the on-boarding procedure on the first day.
The full terms and conditions for the work experience placement service can be found [link to specification document here] , but we summarise the most important points for parents here:
By accepting the offer of a work placement: your child is agreeing to the following:
Like many businesses, the team at Workfinder are now working remotely and continue to support both businesses and students to make meaningful connections.
We have launched a new programme to enable the flexibility that both candidates and employers need.
We offer remote work experience projects which are designed to be short and intensive two-week activity that will provide value to both sides. Our intelligent algorithm matches the best young people with their placement. We provide practical tips, guidance, and regular check-ins needed to keep the project on track and deliver value.