Selina Lindsay
North East Champion
What is it that a Youth Connect Champion does?
As the representative for the North East and Midlands regions I endeavour to raise awareness amongst students of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace. The programme aims to foster development of key skills which can be applied to both school and work life. Youth Connect tackles topics such as worker’ s rights, trade unions and the history of worker’ s rights. As a qualified secondary school teacher I particularly enjoy the diversity of the programme which allows me engage with students from a range of subject areas including History, Business Studies and LCVP. It is personally gratifying to listen to students’ views and hopefully illustrate topics in a way that ensure they can see their relevance to their everyday lives.
Is there any message you would like to share with the readers?
Students should be aware that they are entitled to certain workplace rights regardless of whether they are working part-time at weekend or during the Christmas period. Before you sign up for a job ask
Selina Lindsay North East Champion
You can also keep up to date with us on Facebook and Twitter https:// www. facebook. com / youthconnectire https:// twitter. com / YouthConnectIre
questions such as how much will you be paid per hour and also what is expected of you. All young workers have rights such as a limit on the amount of hours they can work as well as times within which they work.
Marianne Faust, Aisling Minouge and Ciara Minouge from Team Cool from Mucross Park College 2
Karl Perkins, Batayyuba Jamil and Alex McManus from team O ' Fiaich CH Superdrive from O ' Fiaich College
Have you heard many bad stories from some of the students?
Many students are not aware that they have rights in the workplace when they are under 18. In fact there are extra provisions in place to protect young workers. A large proportion of students do not feel comfortable approaching their employer with queries and many are not aware of the processes that exist, should an issue arise at work. A significant amount of students are working for cash in hand and are given a set amount per day or per week, which much of the time equates to less than the minimum wage for their age when they calculate the rates. Many work long hours until very late at night which is especially prevalent in the run up to Christmas time. Similar issues arise whether the students are in a school in Carndonagh or Cavan, Kells or Kilcormac. If you are based in the North East region and would be interested in having Selina come out to your class, feel free to email her at: northeastregion @ youthconnect. ie
For further information about what Youth Connect does or if you are interested in learning more about your rights as workers then you can visit our website at www. Youth-Connect. ie
or email us at info @ youth-connect. ie
73