Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service Factsheet

Children & Employment

This factsheet outlines the law about the employment of children. In employment legislation, a “child” is defined as anyone of school age. This means that they have not yet reached the last Friday in June in year 11, (unless they are a year or more older than other children in that year). When a child reaches that date they become a “young worker” in law. These regulations do not apply to Work Experience arranged in year 10. This is covered by the Education (Work Experience) Act 1973. Your local council’s Education Welfare Office can tell more about this, and the addresses and telephone numbers of all the main offices in the Greater Manchester area are listed on the back page.

The law about the employment of children is a mixture of national legislation made by the government, and local byelaws which are made by local councils. The national legislation is explained below; your local council’s Education Welfare Officer can advise you on the local bye-laws which apply in your area. It is very important that you contact her/him if you are considering working and you are under school leaving age, because you need to check what kinds of jobs are allowed for someone of your age. You also have to get a work permit, and your employer has to register there too.

What work can’t children do?

There are national laws which say that children of any age are not allowed to:

• work in “industrial undertakings”, eg mines, factories, building sites, railways;
• drive or ride on any vehicle or machine, including farm machinery;
• work in a betting office;
• sell or serve alcohol, or do any work in a bar;
• work on a ship;
• handle any load which may cause injury.

Your local council will also have a separate list of jobs which are also not allowed. This will probably include work in:

• telephone sales;
• cinemas;
• commercial kitchens, slaughterhouses, butcher’s shops;
• fairgrounds, amusement arcades;
• selling or delivering milk or fuel oils;
• refuse collection;
• work which brings you into contact with “adult materials”, ie pornography;
• more than 3 metres from the ground or floor level;
• hazardous work;
• door to door selling, canvassing or collecting;
• caring in a residential home, unless under adult supervision
• street trading.

What jobs can children do?

The type of work that a child can do depends on how old s/he is. National legislation says that no one under the age of 14 can work. However, your local council may have bye-laws which allow under 14 year olds to do some work. Children under 13 may be allowed to do light, agricultural work, occasionally, with and for their parents. This may be allowed from the age of 10. Local byelaws will explain what work is allowed and what age it is allowed from.

At 13

If you are 13 you are allowed to do “light work” but only if it is on your local council’s list of jobs that are approved for children that age. Light work is work that isn’t dangerous and won’t stop you going to school. The type of work on the list will usually include:

• agricultural work;
• newspaper delivery;
• work in shops, cafés, hairdressing salons, offices;
• domestic work in hotels;
• work in riding stables;
• car washing by hand in residential setting; ie not in a garage.

If you are under 14 and want to work, you must ask your local council what work you are allowed to do.

14 and over

If you are 14 or over, you are also allowed to do “light work”. Besides not being dangerous or interfering with school, it also mustn’t interfere with your  work experience in year 10.

Over school age

You will be issued with your National Insurance number when you are 16, although if you leave school before your 16^th birthday you can work without it until it comes through. Again, contact the Unit for a copy of the Rightswise card for young workers.

When children can work

Any day

No child is allowed to work before 7 in the morning or after 7 in the evening.

School days

You aren’t allowed to work before the end of the school day, although your local Council’s bye-laws may allow 1 hour before school starts. It is very important that you check with your local Council if you are thinking about doing a morning paper round for example, because this might not be allowed in your area.

• You aren’t allowed to do more than 2 hours` paid work in any school day.

Saturdays

• If you are under 15 you can’t do more than 5 hours` paid work on a Saturday;
• If you’re 15 or over you can’t work for longer than 8 hours.

Sundays

You can’t do more than 2 hours` paid work on any Sunday, even in the school holidays.

School holidays

• If you’re under 15 you’re not allowed to do more than 5 hours` paid work per day, and not more than 25 hours per week;
• If you’re 15 or over you can’t work more than 8 hours per day, and not more than 35 hours per week.
  • You must not work for more than four hours in any day without a rest break of one hour;
  • You should have at least two weeks` complete break from both work and school together in every year.

Breaks and holidays

Registration

Employers must inform the local Council within a week of employing a child. They must provide the following information:

• their name and address;
• your name, address and date of birth;
• details of your job, including the number of hours that you work and the nature of the work that you have to do;
• evidence of your parents` approval;
• the name of your school;
• a health and safety statement which shows that an appropriate risk assessment has been carried out.

The Council will then check that the job that you have been employed to do is allowed, and that it is safe for you to do. In some cases, they might want you to have a medical examination to make sure that you are fit to do the job. They will then send you a work permit to do that job, which you could be asked to produce by a police officer or other authorised person. If you don’t have one you might not be covered by your employer’s liability insurance policy. This means that if you are injured in an accident at work you won’t get any compensation for it. You also won’t have any employment rights. A child who is legally employed has the same employment rights as an adult worker. Contact the Unit for more information about your rights at work. If your work changes, your employer should inform the Council again.

Health and Safety Regulations

Besides the above regulations, which came into force in August 1998, employers of children must also comply with the Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1997 which are intended to protect young people, including children, at work. When carrying out health and safety risk assessments for young workers, an employer must take into account their inexperience of work, their lack of awareness of the risks that work might involve, and their general immaturity. When assessing the risks associated with work, s/he must look at:

• the layout of the workplace and workstation and its fixtures and fittings;
• equipment used at work and the way it is used;
• the health and safety training available to the young worker;
• whether it involves any exposure to physical, biological and chemical agents. Workers under 18 are not allowed to do certain particularly dangerous jobs unless they are very carefully supervised and the jobs are carefully controlled. These include jobs which involve strenuous physical activity, exposure to certain chemicals or radiation, or which involve extremes of temperature, noise or vibration.

Most councils say that any child who works outside must wear suitable clothes and shoes.

Income Tax and National Insurance

A child does not have to pay NI contributions but may have to pay tax if her/his income is above the relevant tax threshold, but this is very unlikely.

Rates of Pay

There are no legal minimum rates of pay for children except in agriculture. You could find out what other children are paid for doing similar work in your area, and ask for a similar rate. When you reach 16 and the official school leaving date, usually the last Friday in June, you are entitled to be paid the minimum wage. This is £3.57 per hour to 1^st October 2010, rising to £3.64 per hour on that date.

For more information and advice contact

Greater Manchester Pay and Employment Rights Advice Service

( 0161 839 3888, or write to us at

4^th Floor, Swan Buildings, 20 Swan Street, Manchester, M4 5JW

We give telephone advice only and cannot see people face to face

or visit our website: www.gmemploymentrights.org.uk

 

LOCAL AUTHORITY EDUCATION WELFARE OFFICES

BOLTON   Social Work, Education & Culture Department Castle Hill Centre Castleton Street BOLTON, BL2 2JW.   Tel 01204 338 173 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it	BURY   Education Welfare Service Athenaeum House, Market Street, BURY, BL9 OBN.   Tel 0161 253 5699 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it	MANCHESTER   Education Welfare Service Education Department Overseas House, Quay Street, MANCHESTER, M3 3BB   Tel 0161 234 7177 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
OLDHAM   Education Welfare Service Greenbank, Firbank Road, Royton, OLDHAM OL2 6TU   Tel 0161 222 6620 / 6621 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it	ROCHDALE   Education Welfare Service PO Box 70 Municipal Offices, Smith Street, ROCHDALE, OL16 1YD.   Tel 01706 715 665 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it	SALFORD   Education Welfare Service Irwell Park Education Welfare Centre, Britannia Street, SALFORD, M6 6FX   Tel 0161 778 0600 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
STOCKPORT   Education Welfare Service, Dialstone Centre Lisburne Lane STOCKPORT, SK2 7LL.   Tel 0161 474 2195	TAMESIDE   Education Welfare Service, Education & Cultural Services Council Offices Wellington Road, ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, OL6 6DL   Tel 0161 342 2290 / 2294 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it	TRAFFORD   Children & Young People’s Service Education Welfare & Intermediate Education, Harboro Centre Harboro Road SALE M33 5AH   Tel 0161 912 2353 / 2323 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
	WIGAN   Education Welfare Service Wigan Investment Centre Waterside Drive WIGAN, WN3 5BA.   Tel 01942 705 405 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
August 2010