Introduction
In recent times, many young workers have joined the workforce in the entire world and compose a big percentage in the industries, organizations, and businesses. The young people have joined the firms due to the economic demands in the world so that they can help the society financially wise and bring development in it.
Young workers can be defined as persons in the labor market who are aged between the ages of 13 to 18 years. These workers include school-going persons in tertiary and secondary schools.
Vulnerable workers are employees in industries and organizations whose participation in the labor market puts them in extreme suffering, injustices, and uncertainty which result from power imbalance in the relationship between the employers and the employees.
These young workers are faced with many conditions in their workplaces that make them vulnerable. The young workers are usually the ones who handle the tough tasks in their workplaces; this includes heavy loads and handling of dangerous substances as it may be compared with the older workers. Some organizations look at a person’s age rather than the capability of the person and this discriminates against the young workers. It is argued that the older the person the more he/she is capable of performing the job therefore the older should be paid more.
Wages in some workplaces are paid according to their age rather than competence since many argue that the older should get more salary because they have more needs. Some governments, however, have supported the argument saying that the move by the organizations is to encourage the young workers to get their education first before finding a job, therefore, the organizations are justified in paying the young people fewer wages than the older people.
There is extremely low unionization of young workers compared to any other age group of the workforce in their workplaces and especially in North America where young workers are less likely to belong to any trade union. This means that this group is the most vulnerable of the workers in the world. They further have little work experience, low employment status, limited employment options and have no protection from anti-discrimination legislation. This is so because they have to confront the most powerful corporations which deal with discrimination as individuals due to a lack of collective action or representation. Due to the government’s minimum wage policies and lack of anti-discrimination protections of the young workers in North America, the workplaces have fostered low status, low wage, stop-gap pool for young labor, and abandonment by labor unions. (Stuart 2001).
When young people start reporting to their workplaces, they are usually confused and find it strange. They usually have no experience and lack trained judgment of the work and this leaves them vulnerable and at greater risk from accidents, damage of health, mistreatment, and low payments.
Many of the vulnerable young workers in the world work in unsafe, low paid and insecure employment situations. However, most of the young people’s major focus is on how they can become the next leaders and this makes them not look into the problems that they face; due to this they are taken advantage of and become more vulnerable, (Oliver D 2006).
There are many vulnerable situations which are faced by the young workers in their workplace, these are:
Low payments
In recent times, older workers in the workplace receive more wages than their younger workers. Although this is considered discriminatory by the British Chambers of Commerce, the government in Britain said that the different rates protect the young workers. This discrimination of wage between the young workers and the older workers was proved because salary increments were done according to age, those of the higher age bracket received a higher wage increment rate as compared to the younger workers.
A report from the Low Pay Commission in 2006 showed that 336,000 jobs are being held by people of age 16 and above with an hourly rate that is below the required or the appropriate minimum wage rate. Further statistics show that 78% of the migrant workers from the European Union receive a payment of 4.50 pounds or 5.99pounds. These wage rates are very low showing that many of the young people work for long hours yet they receive very meager wages. Many of the young people have also complained of unfair deductions from their wages for company uniforms or for toilet breaks, (Stuart 2001).
Unsafe workplaces
There are many hazards that young people face in their workplaces, these risks are often linked to some sectors in the industries such as hotels and restaurants, construction areas, and agricultural sectors. Young people are more exposed to many physical work factors such as noise, vibrations, heat, cold, and exposure to the handling of dangerous substances. Handling heavy loads, repetitive work, and working in awkward positions are usually seen in young workers than in the older workers in an organization.
Due to this, the young workers are at a higher risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders such as back pains which may result in serious health conditions. As work and life pace increases in the world today, young workers are having tighter deadlines to meet their work requirements at a very high speed. They have more shifts and more irregular working hours compared to the older workers.
Statistics in the United States show that every 30 seconds, an American teenager is injured while in their workplaces, and a young person is killed every five days. Young workers who are employed while still going to school work for more than 20 hours a week, their grades seem to drop, cases of alcohol and drug abuse increase, and their health status are impacted negatively. The statistics also show that it has been more than 60 years since Congress took any actions to protect the young workers in industries, (Wendling 2006).
Discriminations
Reports show that young workers are unfairly sacked from their workplaces for being sick and false accusations of theft. Research of more than 1000 complaints conducted by (McDonald & Dear 2005) of young people who had lost their jobs shows that 20% were forced to leave due to sexual harassment, bullying and illness or injury and the dismissals were mostly unlawful. Although workplaces are being affected, there is an anticipated increase in the poor employment conditions since power is moved away from employees to the employers and worse is that young people have fewer powers.
In Australia, one-fifth of the labor force is made up of young people, but despite that, they are subjected to poor working conditions, workplace bullying and harassment, and unsatisfactory pay. these problems have been enforced by the changes in the labor market where deregulations are being pushed and employment security being eroded. (McDonald & Dear 2005) have attempted to protect their rights, and looking at the roles, strengths, and limitations of legislations, unions, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations. They give recommendations for strengthening and improving government regulations that look into their problems. (McDonald & Dear 2005) further show that 1.9 million young Australians who are aged between the age of 15 and 24 and makeup 20% of the total labor force; these young people include tertiary students and secondary school students and despite their representation, they are vulnerable and are subject to poor employment conditions There are many ways in which employers can approach the young vulnerable worker’s problems:
- The employers of some organizations have ensured that their workplaces are safe so are the systems so that they do not pose any risks to the young workers working in them.
- They have provided information pertaining to safety matters and have kept the employees in safe and healthy conditions so that no harm can come to the workers.
- Workers’ compensation Acts have been enforced so that the sick and injured can be compensated. Workers’ health and safety strategies can also be adopted to protect the workers.
Governments in different countries have also undertaken measures which look into the young worker’s problems and has made several moves to protect them.
- The government has set minimum wage standards to ensure that young workers are better paid. In 2007, the Trade Union Congress launched a new commission to investigate problems faced by vulnerable workers in the U.K and took measures to ensure good working conditions.
- United Services Union has also moved to protect the young workers against the federal government’s extreme Industrial Relations Laws which do not consider the young people.
- The government has moved to set minimum working standards for young workers in the states so that they are not misused by employers. The NSW minister proposed new laws which would provide all of its workers who are aged under 18 years with minimum terms and conditions for work which were set in the NSW awards.
- Governments can put tax relief to young workers, set a hiring process strategy, and ensure good training of young workers before employment.
Unions have also undertaken several measures pertaining to young workers in the state.
- The department of industrial relations in California has introduced a young workers program that looks into the conditions of the young workers and ensures that they are safe from any harm or discrimination.
- In Ontario, U.S, an action group for vulnerable young workers under the age of 25 was formed which dealt with the protection of youth and making sure that they have the required information and resources for unsafe situations. they also had ways of improving the safety conditions of vulnerable young workers.
- The Young Workers Advisory Service (YWAS), is an organization that provides information, advice, and advocacy to young workers across Queensland in Australia. It has recorded 4,769 inquiries from young people up to the age of 25 since 2005. They also recorded cases of dismissal, problems with pay and remuneration, employment conditions, and workplace bullying. Analysis of these categories reveals the different types of youth by gender, age, job status, occupation, and industry, who are most vulnerable in the workplaces. On findings, attention is drawn to regulatory changes in Australia’s labor market recently as a manifest in the 2005 Work Choices legislation Act, (McCallum 2007). It is therefore argued that young people are vulnerable in employment and that this vulnerability is due to bad workplaces. (McDonald, Paula &Bailey, Janis & Oliver, Damian & Barbara 2007).
Conclusion
In conclusion, young workers are very vulnerable in workplaces, they are the group that usually operates in the most dangerous areas of industries and do the hardest work. These young persons are vulnerable and are exposed to many dangers which usually lead to health problems and deaths. They are discriminated against, receive meager wages, have poor working conditions, and are abused by other older workers and employers.
However, the government, unions, and employers have taken certain moves which ensure that young people are protected and are in safe workplaces. American, Australian, and British governments have put laws regarding young workers.
Bibliography
McCallum R 2007, Australian labour law after the Work Choices avalanche, Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 49(3), pp. 436–454.
McDonald P, Bailey J, Oliver D & Pini B 2007, Compounding vulnerability? Australian Bulletin of Labour, 33(1), pp. 60-88.
McDonald P & Dear, KA 2005, Who is upholding the rights of young workers: a profile of advocacy groups in Australia, Youth Studies Australia, vol. 24(3), pp.10-16.
Oliver D 2006, An expectation of continued success: the work attitudes of Generation Y’, Labour and Industry, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 61-84.
Stuart T, 2001, youth at work, temple University press, ISBN: 1566398541
Wendling T, 2006, work related death among young workers, injuty prevention service, U.S websites: NSW Commission for Children and Young People 2005, Children at Work, NSW Commission for Children and Young People.
Young workers vulnerable to unfair dismissal, study shows, Posted Wednesday, 2007. Web.