Too many young people are missing out on the first jobs that teach them how to work, earn and get on.
Graham is backing new plans to change that by making it easier for businesses in Beverley and Holderness to offer young people summer and weekend jobs.
Graham has been campaigning since Labour came to power to protect jobs and opportunities, with a particular focus this year on the first jobs that give young people a start in working life.
In January, Graham stood up for young workers and first jobs. In March, he took the difficulties facing young people trying to get their first proper job directly to ministers, before backing the Conservatives’ New Deal for Young People to expand apprenticeships and help more young people into real work.
Graham has backed new Conservative plans to make it easier for young people in Beverley and Holderness to get the summer and weekend jobs that can give them their first start in working life.
Graham has been campaigning since Labour came to power to protect jobs and opportunities, with a particular focus this year on the first jobs that give young people a start in working life.
In January, Graham stood up for young workers and first jobs. In March, he took the difficulties facing young people trying to get their first proper job directly to ministers, before backing the Conservatives’ New Deal for Young People to expand apprenticeships and help more young people into real work.
Then in May, Graham visited McDonald’s in Beverley to see what that means locally. The family-run franchise employs around 100 people in Beverley and almost 1,000 across East Yorkshire.
Owner Richard told Graham that young people would “always play a part in this business” and described how his restaurants give many young people their first experience of work.
Graham also met Chelsea, who came through the company’s apprenticeship scheme, and heard about paid work experience for young people who are not in education, employment or training.
But Richard also warned of the pressure hospitality businesses face from rising costs. Graham heard how inflation, higher National Insurance contributions and increasing employment costs are making life harder for employers which want to invest and take people on.
Now Graham is backing the next stage of the Conservatives’ campaign to save the summer job by giving young people and employers more freedom while protecting their education.
The latest Conservative plans would:
- Give 16 and 17-year-olds greater flexibility over when they take breaks during a shift.
- Allow young people in full-time education or training to work until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays during term time.
- Remove restrictions on evening working during school holidays.
- Reduce the requirement for 48 consecutive hours off work in every seven-day period to 24 hours.
- Scrap unnecessary permits required for businesses to employ young people.
- Lift the two-hour Sunday working limit for under-16s.
- Allow under-16s to work until 9pm if they choose.
The decline of the summer job was highlighted in a report from former Labour Minister Alan Milburn, who said early employment helped young people “build confidence, learn the habits of work and show employers what they could do”.
The proportion of students aged 16 to 17 doing any work has fallen from 35 per cent in 2006 to 19 per cent today.
The Conservatives say Labour’s Employment Rights Act is adding further costs and risks for businesses taking people on.
The party has pledged to scrap its job-destroying measures, abolish business rates for 250,000 retail, hospitality and leisure businesses and introduce its Cheap Power Plan to cut business electricity bills by 20 per cent.
Graham said:
“For many young people, a summer job is a rite of passage. It’s where you learn punctuality, teamwork, responsibility and the habits of work for the first time.
“I saw that for myself at McDonald’s in Beverley. Richard employs around 100 people here and is committed to giving young people their first experience of work, including through apprenticeships and work experience.
“But businesses like his are being hit by higher taxes and rising employment costs. We should be making it easier for them to give a young person their first chance, not harder.
“That’s why I’ve been campaigning to protect first jobs and why I’m backing these changes. If a young person wants to work, earn some money and gain experience, government shouldn’t needlessly stand in their way.”
Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, said:
“A generation of young people risks being locked out of work because of unnecessary red tape, higher taxes and economic uncertainty.
“Simplifying rules about when young people can work and take breaks will help save the summer job and give employers the confidence they need to hire a young person.”
Luke Johnson, entrepreneur and Chairman of Gail’s, said:
“It’s business that creates jobs, not governments.
“It’s high time politicians recognised that pricing and regulating young people out of getting experience of work helps no one. I therefore welcome these plans to make summer and weekend jobs more viable for all concerned.”
