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The restrictions on working hours for child employment

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What are the rules on employing children?

Who is a child?

A child is someone under minimum school leaving age. In England and Wales, a child can leave school on the last Friday in June of the school year in which they became 16 or if they’ll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.

Tip. Employment law generally applies to children as it does to adults but the rules on paid annual leave and the national minimum wage don’t apply to those who aren’t of school leaving age. So, you can pay them what you like and any annual leave they take doesn’t have to be paid.

The restrictions

Children are not allowed to work (whether paid or unpaid):

• if they’re under the age of 14 (although this rule is often relaxed by local byelaws to allow 13 year olds to work in certain light work roles)
• in any industrial undertaking, i.e. mines, construction sites and factories
• in almost all forms of gambling
• in any role which is beyond their physical or psychological capacity, or involves harmful exposure to toxic or carcinogenic substances or radiation, or involves the risk of accidents which they can’t appreciate due to their inexperience, or involves risks to their health due to extreme cold, heat, noise or vibration
• without a child employment permit issued by the education department of the local council where the employment is to take place, if required by local byelaws.

Tip. Most local councils require you to obtain a child employment permit. If you fail to do so, you may not be insured against injury if the child is involved in an accident whilst at work.

Tip. Only employ children to do light work which isn’t harmful to their health, welfare or education, such as office or retail work or café server work.

There are also restrictions in place on the hours children are allowed to work both during term time and in the school holidays (see The next step ).

Compliance steps

Take the following steps to comply with the law:

1. Don’t employ a child under 13 unless it’s in television, film, theatre or modelling, in which case a child performance licence is required.
2. Conduct an individual risk assessment before the child starts work which takes account of their inexperience, lack of attention to safety and immaturity. Provide this to the child’s parents together with details of the control measures you’ve put in place to mitigate the risks.
3. Comply with the restrictions set out above.
4. Check local byelaws with your council as they may contain a further list of jobs children can’t do and additional restrictions on working hours.
5. Ensure your insurance covers child employment.

Tip. As children under 16 don’t pay NI, you don’t need to include them on the payroll unless their total income is over their personal allowance.

For the restrictions on working hours for child employment, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 26, issue 6.