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Brand loyalty and profile – giving back to the local community by supporting schools and young people most definitely gives the company a good reputation and a higher profile.

Market insights and customer base – young people often bring fresh ideas and approaches. A younger perspective is so valuable, we live in an age when the pace of change is more rapid than at any time in history.

Staff development and engagement – supervising young people on work experience can help to develop/further understanding of existing staff in terms of communication, counselling and management skills. It often flags to staff areas of the business that they need to learn more about!

Workforce diversity – every business recognises the value of a diverse workforce and young people are a large part of this.

Future workforce – helping to develop work skills for young people who may then be able to flourish, perhaps in your sector or even come back to work for your company because of their work experience.

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Student / NYBEP team member contacts employers directly to secure a placement.

Once agreed the student / school / NYBEP team member inputs the details of the placement via the app/portal.

If the school/college are using the online consent process you will receive a confirmation email, followed by a consent request via email.

If the school/college are using the paper consent form, the student will contact you to get their Work Experience Agreement Form signed by all parties – student / parent / employer. This is to confirm that all parties are happy that the placement is going ahead. We advise that the young person should take a responsible adult with them when meeting with the employer / getting their form signed by the employer prior to the placement commencing.

Placements that need a H&S visit will be contacted by NYBEP’s H&S Assessor.

Students should be visited / contacted by their school/college whilst on placement to check how things are going. They will have access to an online h=journal via the app/portal. They may have a paper Work Experience Journal which has tasks to complete during their placement (it is useful for employers to ask the student to bring their journal each day so that they can work on them in quiet times).

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Interview – Best practice for work experience is that employers ask students to meet them for an informal interview once they request a placement. This helps to mirror what would happen in the real world and whilst the student will probably be very nervous, it really does help them get a taste of what an interview experience is like and how they can improve their techniques for the future. It also serves as a great way for the employer to meet the student and find out a bit about them before agreeing / starting the placement.

Duty of care – This remains with the school whilst the students are on placement, however under health and safety law (Health and Safety at Work Act 1974), work experience students are classed as employees and should be treated no differently to other people you employ.

Six steps to protect new workers – HSE guidance: http://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/workers/new.htm

Assess the new starter’s capabilities – Many young people are likely to be new to the workplace and in some cases will be facing unfamiliar risks, from the job they will be doing and from their surroundings.

Plan and provide an induction – Cover H&S and any other useful information that the student will need to know. It is useful to have a written checklist and sign this off with the young person on their first day.

Make sure control measures to protect against risks are up to date and being properly used and maintained. This is covered in the H&S visit with our H&S Assessor, if you don’t need a H&S visit then it may be useful to check your previous Young Persons Risk Assessment is still applicable.

Provide relevant information, instruction and training – Check the way you are communicating information and training with a young person, they may not understand things as quickly as those used to the workplace.

Provide adequate supervision - Young people are likely to need more supervision than adults. Good supervision will help you get a clear idea of the young person’s capabilities and progress in the job and monitor the effectiveness of their training.

Check workers have understood the information, instruction and training they need to work safely.

If a student doesn’t turn up - For any reason, please ensure you contact their school to confirm this.

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NYBEP Work Experience Journal – accessed via the student's app/portal or in a hard copy. This has various sections the young person can complete during their placement. There is a page at the end for the employer to complete their review of the placement on the paper version and an online questionnaire if they are using the app/portal.

Business in the Community – Work Inspiration Toolkit – a practical guide to support businesses to provide inspirational work experience and workplace visits for young people. Here you’ll find some activities to do with your student and a student handbook (includes induction checklist) you can personalise amongst other things. https://www.bitc.org.uk/resources-training/toolkits/work-inspiration-toolkit#How_to_guide

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The Work Inspiration Toolkit is a practical guide to support businesses to provide inspirational work experience and workplace visits for young people.

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The Work Inspiration Toolkit is a practical guide to support businesses to provide inspirational work experience and workplace visits for young people.

Each sector and workplace are different with different considerations, so this toolkit should be used as a guide to help businesses consider what to put in place to create robust programmes. Included with the toolkit are some supporting practical activities businesses can use, as well as examples from companies that have already developed an infrastructure relevant for their business environment and have kindly agreed to share examples. These examples should be used for reference only to help your company develop supporting documents relevant to you.
Supporting documents and information

Each of the three documents provides exercises and tools to use with your student during their work placement. These fun sessions take no more than an hour each but are the key to creating a truly inspiring placement. Each exercise builds on the one before it.

Example document templates for you to use

These are example only documents and should be used for reference only.

LEARN MORE
How business in the Community is helping create
a skilled and inclusive workforce for today and tomorrow

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The Work Inspiration Toolkit is a practical guide to support businesses to provide inspirational work experience and workplace visits for young people. You are trying to view Business in the Community member only content. To view this content your organisation must be a member of Business in the Community.

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NYBEP carries out work placement assurance visits with every employer on behalf of the schools. This consists of a premises visit, checking Employer’s Liability Insurance policy and completing a Young Person’s Risk Assessment. They ensure their visit takes up as little time as possible as we appreciate employers are very busy, but it is important to consider and records all risks to young people and how to manage them so that all parties are happy that the placement is a safe environment for the student. The H&S Assessor completes the assessment with the employer and then NYBEP sends a copy of this to the school / parents and back to the employer to keep.

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All placements must have this insurance in place to host a work experience placement (apart from those exempt by the Crown and family businesses taking on their direct family member). Students on work experience are usually covered under existing ELI policies providing the insurer is a member of the Association of British Insurers:

The insurance industry has agreed that students on work experience placements should be treated as employees for the purposes of insurance… Most Employers’ Liability policies will have a definition of “employee” that covers students on work experience placements.

You should check your policy documentation to ensure that you are adequately covered. When in doubt, it is always advisable to contact your insurer or the broker who arranged the policy.

See: https://www.abi.org.uk/products-and-issues/choosing-the-right-insurance/business-insurance/liability-insurance/employers-liability-insurance/work-experience-students/

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As an employer, you may want to take on students for short or long-term placements. The insurance industry has worked together to ensure that the implications for you are straightforward.

What cover do I need if I take on students?

The insurance industry has agreed that students on work experience placements should be treated as employees for the purposes of insurance. Such placements must conform to the requirements of the Education Act 1996 and any other regulations in force at the time. Most Employers' Liability policies will have a definition of "employee" that covers students on work experience placements.

You should check your policy documentation to ensure that you are adequately covered. When in doubt, it is always advisable to contact your insurer or the broker who arranged the policy.

If you do not have Employers' Liability insurance, and you are taking on a student who is not a member of your family, then you must take out Employers' Liability insurance for the duration of the work experience in order to be covered.

All existing regulations for the protection of persons at work, for example under the Health and Safety at Work Act, will apply equally to persons on work experience placements. Further information about the employment of young persons can be found on the Health and Safety Executive website.

You may have a Public Liability insurance policy. This will not cover students when they are at work. Most Public Liability policies will cover any accidental injury or damage to third party property arising from the actions of the student on work experience. You should check your policy document and if you are in any doubt about the adequacy of coverage, contact your insurer or the broker who arranged the policy.

Is this the same for any kind of student placement?

Yes. This applies to Apprenticeships, Extended Work Experience and Long Term Work Experience.

Do I need to notify my insurer if:

the student will be doing different work to your normal business activities?

Yes. Employers should notify their insurers of the sorts of activities which students will undertake if those activities are onerous or different from the normal business activities of the employer. In these circumstances employers should make sure they obtain written confirmation that the risk has been accepted.

the placement is longer than 2 weeks?

Yes. For some new qualifications, including diplomas, students may be undertaking work experience placements that last longer than the usual two weeks. There should be no problem with extended placements but the employer will probably be required to provide more detailed information to their insurer in this case.

What are the main risks involved in taking on student placements?

The risks will be the same as taking on any other employee, including:

Injury to the students themselves;

Injury to others on the premises (employees, visitors, customers, etc);

Injury to others who are not on the premises (including customers and members of the general public);

Damage to, or loss of, employers' property; and;

Damage to, or loss of, other property (e.g. the student's or a customer's property).

What about overseas placements?

If a student is going to work at a business overseas, the responsible educational establishment (school, college, university) should check if the business or organisation has insurance cover.

Much depends on the degree of control the college has for arranging the placement - for example the travel/accommodation. It is possible the college's insurance will provide an indemnity should they have a legal liability under the Public Liability insurance. If the placement is arranged via a Tour Operator, a Tour Operator's liability insurance policy should be in place which could cover any incidents. Colleges doing this regularly might also buy their own Tour Operator's liability cover, which would give them specific protection and provide the student with business travel insurance benefits.

If the business is linked to a UK business, the UK business may be able to extend their policies to cover students overseas. This will usually be restricted to "temporary" visits or non-manual work.

For more information, see the Department for Work & Pensions announcement (21 June 2013).

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As an employer, you may want to take on students for short or long-term placements. The insurance industry has worked together to ensure that the implications for you are straightforward. The insurance industry has agreed that students on work experience placements should be treated as employees for the purposes of insurance.

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Employers should strive to give students ‘meaningful work’ to help them understand the business and get a proper taste of the type of work involved. As long as tasks (and their associated risks) are well managed, students can get involved with most areas of work.

Feedback from schools is that an effective placement is one that: provides an interview experience; incorporates different areas of the company; makes the young person feel completely part of the team; gives the student a project to work on during the placement and present their work at the end; not only teaches real skills but helps students to understand the transferable skills they are learning and the importance of them e.g. communication, time-keeping, following instructions. Schools have stressed that it really helps when an employer is flexible with the students and understands that the experience is new to them.

Perhaps consider setting the student a piece of work to review their experience / an area of the business. They could include interviewing members of staff to find out how they got to where they are today. Then end their placement with feeding back their project to their supervisor or the team!

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It is important to ensure students are aware of any company policies regarding use of social media / mobile phones / confidentiality as part of the induction on the first day of placement. Social media is a huge part of society nowadays and young people can be unaware of what is acceptable in the workplace with regards to this. There are also risks to personal safety for students and employees that should be considered.

We would advise that students are briefed that they should not post photos/comments about the placement/employer unless previously agreed. Employers should also consider briefing employees that they should not exchange personal social media IDs and / or telephone numbers with work experience students unless it is needed for the placement.

Some employers have confidentiality agreement forms which staff are asked to sign, you are within your rights to ask students to sign this as well.

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Students with additional needs (SEND) – for more in depth guidance please read The SEND Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit - Practical information and guidance for schools and colleges.

The Department for Education SEND Code of Practice 2015 defines special educational needs (SEN) as: “A child or young person has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.”

Many young people with SEND face multiple challenges and barriers throughout their education experience. Broad SEND groupings can be defined as:

• communication and interaction: speech, language and communication needs, autistic spectrum disorder

• cognition and learning: specific learning difficulty, moderate or severe learning difficulty or profound and multiple learning difficulty

• social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties: behaviour sensory and/or physical needs including visual impairment (VI), hearing impairment (HI), multi-sensory impairment and physical disability (PD).

There are 1.5 million young people with special needs in England; 1.3 million in mainstream schools and over 100,000 young people aged 13-18 in special schools. The narrative is more complex for young people with SEND. According to a Mencap study from 2017:

• just 6% of people with learning disabilities are in employment, despite 60% wanting to and being able to be in work

• a job is an opportunity for independence and to forge friendships

As an employer, it is important to work closely with the school to understand the needs of the student. You should review your current Young Persons Risk Assessment to ensure it is still appropriate. Our H&S team can help to highlight any areas that need attention if you require a visit / would like a new visit. If you are unsure whether you could provide a suitable placement, please talk to the school coordinators and consider offering a taster for the student to help you understand what will work.

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Working hours must comply with the Working Time Regulations 1998, and the EU Working Time Directive. In general, learners should work the normal hours of the employer subject to:

Maximum of 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week.

Learners of compulsory school age should not work on Sundays or Bank Holidays, or before 7am or after 7pm. We suggest that employers speak to schools / parents if hours fall outside of these times.

A one-hour consecutive break should be provided after four hours work and two clear days off in seven.

Where a placement includes a ‘day off’ during the week e.g. retail placements, the employer should ensure there is a plan in place for times when their learner is not required to work. This needs to be documented and agreed with parents/carers – perhaps create a timetable for the student and ask them to get this signed off by parents (employer keep a signed copy/send it in to school). Or email the parent with information and ask them to reply to confirm they are happy with arrangements.

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Work experience placements cannot be arranged in job roles where it would be unlawful to employ young persons aged between 16 and 18. The Health and Safety Executive states that employers should not employ young people to do work which: is beyond their physical or psychological capacity; exposes them to substances chronically harmful to human health, e.g. toxic or carcinogenic substances, or effects likely to be passed on genetically or likely to harm the unborn child; exposes them to radiation; involves a risk of accidents which they are unlikely to recognise because of e.g. their lack of experience, training or attention to safety; involves a risk to their health from extreme heat, noise or vibration.

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RIDDOR - https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/

First Aid at Work - http://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid/legislation.htm

Accident Book - http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/accident-book.htm

Fire Risk Assessment - http://www.hse.gov.uk/toolbox/fire.htm

Health and Safety Policy (in writing for employers with 5 or more employees) – guidance and template - http://www.hse.gov.uk/simple-health-safety/risk/index.htm

H&S poster / leaflet – if you employ anyone, you must display the health and safety law poster where your workers can easily read it, or provide them with a leaflet. You can find free downloads here - http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/lawposter.htm

Guidance to self employed workers - http://www.hse.gov.uk/self-employed/index.htm

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HSE: Information about health and safety at work

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Advice, guidance, news, templates, tools, legislation, publications from Great Britain's independent regulator for work-related health, safety and illness; HSE

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Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

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Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks

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Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks – Barred list checks by the DBS might be required on some people who supervise a young person under the age of 16 on a work experience placement. If the person working with the young person is unsupervised and the same person is in frequent contact with the young person, the work is likely to be regulated activity. If so, the school or college could ask the employer providing the work experience to ensure that the person providing the instruction or training is not a barred person.

DBS is for the school to consider as part of their safeguarding role. Coordinators/staff will consider the young person’s needs and whether they are particularly vulnerable because of educational / medical / behavioural / home circumstances etc. The work experience placement should also be considered in terms of the type of work, the nature of the supervision and the length of the placement.

Schools and colleges are not able to request an enhanced DBS check with barred list information for staff supervising children aged 16 to 17 on work experience

Cost of DBS checks – Employers are generally regarded as volunteers for the purposes of providing work placements and therefore there should be no cost for a DBS check, unless this would be a normal expectation for the job in which case employers will have to cover the costs (e.g. for staff in nurseries or care homes). https://www.gov.uk/dbs-check-applicant-criminal-record

Further info Keeping children safe in education Dept for Education (2021) p.156-158 and Regulated activity in relation to children: scope

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What the Disclosure and Barring Service does

The Disclosure and Barring Service helps employers make safer recruitment decisions each year by processing and issuing DBS checks for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. DBS also maintains the adults' and children's Barred Lists and makes considered decisions as to whether an individual should be included on one or both of these lists and barred from engaging in regulated activity.

DBS is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Home Office.

Read more about what we do

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The Disclosure and Barring Service helps employers make safer recruitment decisions each year by processing and issuing DBS checks for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. DBS also maintains the adults' and children's Barred Lists and makes considered decisions as to whether an individual should be included on one or both of these lists and barred from engaging in regulated activity.

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It is really useful to speak to the student at the end of the placement to have a debrief, find out what went well and any areas they didn’t particularly enjoy. There is a page in the NYBEP’s Work Experience Journal where employers can leave a review / reference for the student. If you feel the placement has been a really successful one, it is great practice to do a case study and share this with others to promote and celebrate not only the placement and the young person’s achievements but also your company. NYBEP would love to hear and share these stories with our social media outlets and contacts. If you do a case study, please make sure you get written parental permission to share any pictures or quotes.