Paperboy wins £1,000 payout

The Leicester Mercury refused to comment

A paperboy who argued he should receive holiday pay and a minimum wage is to be given more than £1,000 in a settlement from his employers.

The 15-year-old claimed he lost his round at the Leicester Mercury when he could not find anyone to fill in for him while he was away.

The newspaper originally claimed the paperboy, who has not been named, was self-employed and therefore not entitled to holiday.

However it agreed to pay the boy, who earned less than £2 an hour, before an employment tribunal was due to hear the case on Friday.

Low wage

The newspaper refused to comment following the settlement.

If the boy had won his case, it could have affected the wages and working conditions of thousands of other paperboys and girls.

At any time there are between 1.1 million and 1.7 million children of compulsory school age working.

Campaigners for their rights say they are less well protected in employment law than adults, working for less money and with less job security.

In May another paperboy, 14-year-old Edward Des Clayes, of Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, lost his claim for paid leave at an employment tribunal in London.

He had claimed that the working time directive applied to children as well as adults