How work works

Twelve trades paying £30,000 and upwards with no degree required, what each one needs instead, how long it takes to get there, and which of them are funded.

The statutory minimum, what a contract can change, what happens if you just leave, gardening leave, and whether an employer can hold your final pay.

Class 1 and Class 2 pay by work type, what nights out and ADR add, why agency rates look higher than they are, and how to tell a good advert from a padded one.

Unpaid trial shifts, changing your rota without notice, holding your wages, refusing holiday, asking about health at interview, and eight more, answered with the actual rule.

Competitive salary tells nobody anything. Why omitting pay costs employers applications and candidates hours, and what to publish instead if you are writing the advert.

Qualifications get you past the first filter. What decides the hire is evidence of reliability, judgement and the practical things an employer cannot train quickly.

If an agency says you will be paid through an umbrella company, here is what that means for your payslip, your deductions, your holiday pay and the schemes to avoid.

Weekly limits, rest breaks, night worker protections and the opt out, explained in plain English under the Working Time Regulations 1998, with the exceptions that catch people out.

Temporary work is not a consolation prize. Here is how agency and fixed term work actually operates in the UK, what rights come with it, and when it beats holding out for a permanent job.

Apprenticeships have no upper age limit. Here is how they work for career changers and existing employees, what you get paid, and how the rules differ across the four nations.