Child employment
- Have you got a job?
- Have you got money in your pocket?
- Have you got some independence?
- But.. have you got a work permit?
If you haven't got one you could lose your job and your employer could get into trouble. It's easy to get a permit and it's free.
What is the law?
Children and young people can only work in a limited number of jobs and for a limited number of hours, until they reach the minimum school leaving date, which is the last Friday in June of the year in which they reach 16 years. Any employer who allows a child of school age to work, without first obtaining a work permit, is breaking the law and could be prosecuted.
Any child over the age of 13 years may work in their spare time, within the constraints as outlined below, but they must first apply for a work permit. An application form must be completed by the employer, signed by the parent or guardian of the child and returned to Education and Leisure Services. When authorised a work permit will be issued to the child and notification will be sent to the employer. If the child does not receive a work permit it might mean that no application has been made. This could mean that the child is not covered by the employer's insurance in the event of an accident at work.
Children aged 13 years
May only be employed in light work in specified occupations, some of which are listed below. For a complete list refer to Employment bye-laws.
- delivery of newspapers
- shop work - including shelf stacking
- domestic work in hotels
- cafe or restaurant
- office work
Children aged 13 and 14
May only be employed in light work, for up 5 hours on any day on which they are not expected to attend school, up to a maximum of 25 hours each week. This does not include Sundays.
Children aged 15 and 16
May work for up to 8 hours on any day they are not expected to attend school, except Sundays, up to a maximum of 35 hours in any week.
School days
On school days, children may work for up to 2 hours, outside of school hours. However, they can only be employed for up to 1 hour before school on any day they are expected to attend.
Sundays
A child may work for up to 2 hours on a Sunday between the hours 7am and 7pm.
Prohibited employment
No child of statutory school age may be employed, for reward or no reward:
- to deliver milk
- to deliver fuel oils
- in a commercial kitchen
- in a slaughterhouse or any part of a butcher's shop
- in any work higher than 3 metres above the ground or floor level
- to collect or sort refuse
- to collect money or to sell or canvass door to door
- in employment involving harmful exposure to physical, biological or chemical agents
- in any work involving exposure to adult material or situations unsuitable for children
- in telephone sales
- in a cinema, theatre, dance hall or night club, except in connection with a performance given by children, for which a licence has been granted
- on garage premises or selling petrol
- in a bar or licensed premises during opening hours
- in a licensed betting office
- at any machine prescribed as dangerous
Who to contact
For more information, a copy of the employment byelaws for Salford or an application form, please contact Salford's Customer Contact Centre on 0161 909 6508.
Downloadable documents
- Download application form (Microsoft Word format, 46KB)
- Download medical questionnaire (Microsoft Word format, 40KB)
If you are unable to view documents of these types, our downloads page provides links to viewing software.
This page was last updated on 06 November 2008
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