The law
Child employment is covered by strict rules and regulations. This is to make sure that the young people are properly registered and are not being exploited or doing work that could damage their health, place them in physical danger or have an adverse effect on their education.
The official date for leaving school is the last Friday in June in the school year in which the pupil is 16.
Before this date, young people between the ages of 13 and 16 must have a work permit if they wish to undertake part time work.
An application form must be completed and signed by the parents and the employer, and submitted to the Education Inclusion Service for approval.
All employment which is not registered, where no employment permit is in force, is illegal.
Employers responsibilities
Every child of school age who has a part time job working for an employer whether they are paid or undertaking voluntary work must be registered with Anglesey Local Authority and have a work permit. It is the employers’ responsibility to apply for a work permit in order to employ the child.
Employers must take into account the rules and regulations which control how many hours the child may work, what type of work the child can do and the type of premises the child will be working in.
It is the employers’ duty to carry out a specific young person’s risk assessment of any hazards relating to the child employment and inform the parent/guardian of the outcome of the assessment.
In addition, the employer must ensure that proper clothing and footwear are worn, and that proper training, guidance and supervision is given to the child, together with having appropriate insurance cover.
Within 7 days of the child starting work the employer must complete a child employment application form which must be signed by the employer and the child’s parent/guardian.
This application gives details of the child, hours of work, place of work and the type of work to be undertaken.
Rules for employers
These are only some of the rules and regulations surrounding child employment.
An employer is responsible for making sure that they are fully aware of the child employment legislation and that any child they employ is employed legally.
- It is illegal to employ a child under 13 years of age
- It is illegal to employ a child without having obtained a Child Employment Permit
- Children can only be employed in specific types of work (noted below)
- No child can work at any time between 7pm and 7am (Monday to Saturday)
- No child can work more than 2 hours on a school day
- No child can work for more 2 hours on a Sunday between the hours of 7am and 11am
- No child can work more than 12 hours during any week they are required to attend school
- A child aged 13 or 14 years can work up to 5 hours on a Saturday or school holiday, and can work up to a maximum of 25 hours a week during school holidays
- A child aged 15 or 16 years can work up to 8 hours on a Saturday or school holiday, and can work up to a maximum of 35 hours a week during school holidays
- A child who works for 4 hours must have a break of at least 1 hour
- A child must have at least 2 weeks’ consecutive holiday per year
More information on child employment work permits
If you want to speak to someone about child employment work permits, contact the Education Inclusion Service on 01286 679 007 or you can email GweinyddolADYaCh@gwyneddllyw.cymru