W19 - Workers under 16: the rules

Under the Children and Young Persons Act no child under 13 may be employed. There is an exception for certain types of performance, such as acting, where a part can only be undertaken by a child of that age. Working hours are strictly controlled and in most cases require a licence from the child's local authority.

Responsibility for issuing permits normally rests with the education welfare service. Nobody under 16 may be employed in manufacturing or any dangerous activity.

Strict rules govern the employment of school-age teenagers and they must be adhered to, even if you only want to employ them to do a paper round. They may also require a permit from your local authority.

A teenager can leave school on the last Friday in June if they are 16 or will be 16 before the start of the next school year.

National law
In England, Wales and Scotland young people aged between 13 and the minimum school-leaving age may not do any work, paid or unpaid:

• before 7am or after 7pm
• for more than two hours on a school day or Sunday
• for more than 12 hours a week during term time
• in the holidays for more than 25 hours a week - 35 hours if aged 15 or over

The rules in Northern Ireland are different for children aged 13 and older.

You also have to follow special rules about rest breaks, time off and holidays for young workers.

You must do a risk assessment before taking on school-age workers, or review your existing risk assessment.

Your local authority might have its own rules affecting school-aged workers so it's important to check on these by-laws too.

You must also notify your local authority. They may require:

• evidence that the job will not be dangerous - your risk assessment and health and safety policy will be useful for this

a permit for each worker issued by your local authority or your local education authority

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This web-site was last updated on 13/06/2008

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