How much would you pay him?

The earliest age a youngster can work part time is 13 and then the number of hours is restricted and you have to fill in a form with your local council which the parents also have to sign. And then they are not allowed to do heavy work.

Additionally he will have no insurance whilst working on your property and should he be injured using your lawnmower or hedge cutter you would be liable. I think you would also be in breach of child safeguarding laws.

All that may sound a bit tough for just light garden duties but it is to stop youngsters being exploited. You could ignore all of that and continue to employ him against the law. As he has asked for £5 an hour which is above the minimum age for a 16 year old stick with that if you continue.

Actually I agree, I would be too concerned about injury to employ a child. I certainly would not allow him anywhere near a hedge trimmer or other power tools.

In addition to the safety issues and liability insurance there is also the legislation around working with children, or in this case a child working for you. Think I would prefer to cut my own hedge and lawn!

Agree a fixed price so he won't just drag it out to be paid by the hour! Depends on how big your lawn is too. A small lawn should cost less than a large one.

He’s worth £10 per hour all day long. The going rate to mow a lawn in my area is £15.00, so £10 for the lad is good. I’d also advise him to charge others the same so that he doesn’t get exploited.

My first thought was along the lines of what Avalon25 has pointed out. My own children all had part-time jobs as soon as they legally could, but we made sure the paperwork was in order and that the pay (and work) was ‘appropriate’ for their age.

I think if we’re to teach children the value of work and study we need to be realistic about the pay they can expect. My children worked for low pay (minimum wage for their age) whilst at school and also received very generous Christmas bonuses, so I think £5 an hour plus refreshments is appropriate. My children learned that hard work and study would give them greater opportunities for good pay in the future.

This is worth a read and explains the rules clearly.

It also says
Having a Saturday job is a great way to earn some extra cash, and it won’t impact negatively on your studies. Why don’t you create yourself a CV, and start posting your CV to your local corner shop, or maybe knock on a few older people doors and see if any of them need help in the home or the garden?

www.studentjob.co.uk/ages/jobs-13-year-olds

We have two. One does our woodland management and the other does gardening tasks (just put in raised beds). Both charge £15 per hour and this covers their travelling.

I had a similar problem when a friend's 12yr old baby-sat my puppy for 6 hours 4 or 5 times As a teacher I didn't want to give her the going adult rate as it was too much for her to cope with. But I wanted to pay her a proper rate.
Compromise - I gave her an amount she was happy with, and on the quiet, gave her mum some money to put on one side, so when she wanted to buy something big, she actually had a little nest egg put on one side.

£10 at least.

His mother is here with him while he is doing it - he suffers with depression and this is part of the programme to boost his confidence. It is succeeding, I am very glad to say.

Some youngsters at 12 are far more sensible than others and have a good work ethic my grandson comes to mine and mows the back and front lawns.weeds/washes my car and other little jobs I find difficult and I pay him £10 per hour which he saves he also does similar for my neighbour every so often,I think £5 is not enough & would certainly increase his payment.

I' d pay a set rate " for the job" not per hour. Anything less than 10 doesn' t seem right but you would really help him by recommending him to friends and neigbours, givinc him more work + asking what else he knows how to do/ would be willing to do.

Have you considered the implications in the case of an accident?

Luckygirl

His mother is here with him while he is doing it - he suffers with depression and this is part of the programme to boost his confidence. It is succeeding, I am very glad to say.

It sounds fine.
Well done.

Think I would prefer to cut my own hedge and lawn!
Not everyone is able to do that.

I pay my window cleaner £7.50. It takes him 20 minutes and he has a squeegee and a cloth. It's a small 1 bedroom bungalow. 3 double windows a porch and a bathroom. The going rate for most things now is about £10 per hour.at least.

I don’t think pay depends on anything to do with his situation at home, contributing to bills etc, you wouldn’t take that into consideration for an adult. I think £10ph is fair as it takes about an hour. Hopefully it will boost his self esteem that you think he’s doing such a good job that you pay more than he asked.

Ahhhhh... I'd give him £15 bless his heart

I'm one if the millions working in a minimum wage job and get £8.91 an hour. Maybe I should reconsider my options and take up gardening instead, I could also cancel my gym membership as I probably wouldn't need it to keep fit

I'd give him £10 cos it sounds like he's doing a good job. Well done to the young lad for going out and earning some money.

If he happy to take 5.00 I would give him 10.00 you are both winners then

I don't know what you should be paying, but perhaps you could have a word with his parents?

If you feel £5 is too little, you could ask what they think. Or check the rate for school-leavers. At twelve, he shouldn't in fairness to school-leavers and students be paid at their rate, but slightly less.

£5 and hour is fine. these are the national minimum wage rates
National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage Rates for 2021/22
AgeMinimum hourly rate 2021/22
23 and over£8.91
21 to 22£8.36
18 to 20£6.56
under 18£4.62
Apprentice£4.30

If you want to give him more do it as a gift at Christmas. Once you pay him over the rate his friends may want to come and work for you and then you will find that they expect the same rate as him etc. It will lead to fewer difficulties in the future if you pay the rate for his age.

This is a hard one because under-13s are not allowed to work for money. You should also check if your insurance covers him.

I would not dream of paying anyone £5 for my lawn to be cut especially a young lad £5. It’s exploiting him It’s morally wrong for an hours hard work and apart from anything else what about health and safety. He could seriously injure himself, his parents can’t surely know about it. A neighbour took advantage of my kind hearted son , 13, by getting him up a ladder cleaning her guttering for five pounds. I was furious and almost through the money back at her and said I would report her as I was disgusted, I didn’t report her but it hopefully stopped her doing it to someone else’s son.